Yamaha VMAX designer passes away
Kenji Ekuan, the man also behind the iconic Kikkoman soy sauce bottle, has died at the age of 85Japanese industrial designer Kenji Ekuan, who designed the legendary Yamaha VMAX, has passed away at the age of 85 from heart problems.
A former monk, Ekuan established his GK Industrial Design business after WWII, utilising a design principle of "democratization" of goods and beauty to make them accessible for everyone.
The VMAX – celebrating 30 years in 2015 – is what motorcyclists best know Ekuan-san for, but he was also the dab hand behind the iconic Kikkoman soy sauce bottle which he crafted in 1961. He has said he wanted to design a small bottle because of his childhood memory of his mother pouring soy sauce from a big half-gallon bottle to a tabletop dispenser.
Ekuan was also involved in the design of the Komachi bullet train connecting Tokyo and northern Japan, the Narita Express airport liner, as well as audio equipment and company logos.
Ekuan became a monk at a Hiroshima temple to succeed his father, who died due to radiation from the atomic bombing. But he eventually pursued his career in design, graduating from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1955. He founded his design studio two years later.
In 2014, Ekuan received a prestigious Italian industrial design prize, the Golden Compass Award, after winning several other international awards.
Ekuan's death comes just days after Yamaha annou8nced that it will be producing a special carbon VMAX to commemorate 30 years of the model.
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