Rune Naito (内藤 ルネ, NAITO Rune) was an artist, illustrator, and tastemaker popular in Japan from the 1950s through the 1970s. A pioneering figure of the kawaii artistic movement, Rune’s illustrations, fancy goods, figurines, and fashions were immensely popular with young girls and women across Japan. While earlier artists such as Yumeji Takehisa and Nakahara Junichi may have laid the groundwork, Rune’s bright and cheerful aesthetic infused with post-war optimism transitioned girls’ illustration from the more lyrical styles of his predecessors into the bright and bubbly world that is more classically associated with kawaii today. While best known for his adorably retro “Rune Girls,” Rune’s use of bright colors and novel motifs such as strawberries, vegetables, and cute animals created the foundation for the modern kawaii aesthetic. Rune is also credited with popularizing the word ‘kawaii’ and changing the meaning of the word from being associated with the negative connotations of childish, infantile, and naïve to being associated with a more positive image of cute and lovable that it has today.
Various illustrations and products by Rune
The story of Rune’s rise to fame reads like an artist’s fairytale. Born in 1932 in the Aichi prefecture, Rune was inspired by the work of Nakahara Junichi from illustration in magazines such as Soleil. While taking a job at a local magazine near his hometown, Rune continued to hone his illustration skills and also started exchanging letters with Nakahara. Nakahara, who must have sensed the potential in this budding young artist, invited Rune to come study under him in Tokyo. At the age of 19, Rune moved to Tokyo to work at Nakahara’s shop Himawari. From 1954 he started working as an illustrator and columnist for Nakahara’s newest publication Junior Soleil where he not only provided cover and interior page illustration but also wrote columns about fashion, interior design, and popular celebrities. He also continued to work in the sales department for Nakahara’s companies handling promotional illustration and product design. Goods featuring Rune’s designs included handkerchiefs, scarves, stylish hats, and paper shopping bags.
Rune’s iconic “Rune Girls”, characterized by their oversize eyes, lovely expressions, stylish hairstyles, and bright fashion were first published in Junior Soleil in the mid-1950s. One look at these early illustrations and the influence of Nakahara is immediately evident. However, you can also see that transition from the more sophisticated style with a touch of melancholy associated with the earlier artists like Takehisa and Nakahara to the bright, cheerful, and cartoonish aesthetic that has come to define classic kawaii. Compared with Nakahara’s sophisticated and chic modern ladies, Rune’s girls are more like her spunky, fun-loving younger sister ready to take on the world.
Rune’s portfolio consisted of more than just bright and cheerful girls, he was also known for discovering the cuteness in everyday items including flowers, fruits, and vegetables and making these kawaii using his distinct style. Rune would use these motifs to embellish his illustrations and also decorate various stationery goods, scarfs, and handbags. These motifs became quite popular and were copied by many other designs and lead to a variety of trends, all starting with Rune. In particular, his use of strawberries was a huge hit sparking something of a strawberry boom. This trend has even been suggested as influencing Sanrio’s (then still known as Yamanashi Silk Company) first foray into the kawaii world with their strawberry pattern scarfs and notebooks in 1962.
Rune also loved using cute animals in his designs and is quite famous for his character ‘Rune-Panda’ which he says was inspired by the cuteness of the pandas he saw at the London zoo during a trip abroad in 1971. The following year pandas came to the Ueno zoo in Japan and Panda goods, particularly Rune-Panda, became all the rage. Together with the panda boom, Rune’s panda character had a huge influence on panda goods and other kawaii animal characters.
In addition to his illustrations, Rune published regular columns in Junior Soleil and other magazines targeted at young women writing about fashion, interior decorating, and even movie stars. His fashion and decorating advice was extremely popular and lead to several popular trends from the use of large buttons and short white gloves to the decorating with antique dolls, and a trend for painting old western style furniture white and decorating with various western style images. All of these ‘booms’ can be directly attributed to Rune.
Rune’s adorable, now retro, designs continue to be popular today and he is greatly appreciated for his critical role in laying the foundation for the modern kawaii artistic movement. Following his death in 2007, Masuda Sebastian (founder of Doki Doki 66 and the creative genius behind Kyary Pamyu Pamyu) helped curate a retrospective exhibit focused on Rune and his lasting legacy, which opened LA in 2012 before traveling around to various cities across Japan. Check out this interview with Masuda to learn more about Rune and his lasting influence on the Kawaii world:
Wanna learn even more about Rune?!? Check out these resources:
- https://www.naitou-rune.jp/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rune_Naito
- Aichi exhibition showcases Rune Naito, pioneer of ‘kawaii’ culture
