Meet Shuetso Sato: Japan's most-in-demand graphic designer, 72, who began with duct tape signage and now works with Nintendo, Nike

Japan is a country known for its graphic prowess. From anime to manga, the country excels in visual graphics like no other. While one would believe that the pioneers in this field would be the tech-savvy youth, Japan's most-in-demand graphic designer is neither hip nor an artist in training.He is Shuetso Sato, a septuagenarian security guard who has been working the graveyard shift at a train station in Tokyo since 2002. For Sato, his hidden passion for designing began in 2004 when he was asked to help travellers navigate the crowded, labyrinthine Shinjuku station as it underwent renovations.In order to help people out, he decided to make signage out of duct tape and a craft knife, covering the station's walls with directions to the myriad train lines, exits and more. He fell in love with the work, the result was effective, and the station master kept asking for more. Rather than constructing each kanji stroke individually, he often lays down large blocks of tape first before carving letters out of those surfaces."No one would think to ask a security guard to make signs or posters, so when someone requests one, I can't help but do my best," said the 72-year-old, dressed in a bright-yellow jumpsuit uniform to Reuters.As more signs went up, the more his work got noticed. For years, commuters treated these signs as charming features of a station. However, it was in 2007 that Daily Portal Z published an article on Sato. The piece documented a public event in Koenji that drew nearly 100 people curious to watch him work in real-time. Around the same period, creative collective Trio4, led by artist Yamashita Hikaru began archiving his signage and amplifying it online. Their archives show Sato’s work spreading across niche platforms, and eventually mainstream outlets including NHK and Tokyo Shimbun. Soon, Sato was getting requests from all over Japan, to make lettering for movie posters, a museum sign and more. He was even assigned gigs from corporate giants such as Nintendo and Suntory. In 2019, the Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art and Design included Sato in its exhibition “Where Am I? Art and Design Around Signage”, positioning his work within broader conversations around wayfinding, design systems, and public communication.In 2025, he won the Japan Sign Design Association's platinum award for his unique typography, now known as "Shuetsu-tai" after his name, characterised by rounded edges aimed at soothing commuters' irritation.One of his most recent projects now is collaborating on a logo for Nike's new brick-and-mortar store, which opened last month in the Shinjuku shopping district. Shun Sasaki, a graphic designer hired by the sporting goods giant, said he immediately thought of Sato when he was asked to come up with a logo that evoked Shinjuku."I was blown away by his cool, powerful lettering," Sasaki said. "He's overflowing with incredible passion - a strong desire ⁠to create."Interestingly, Sato, whose work has now grown popular across the country, has never charged a set fee, leaving compensation up to his clients. He only asks for meals to be provided while he works and transportation costs, along with the understanding that he will only use duct tape to create his designs. "For Shinjuku, I think I got a certificate of appreciation from the station master, and a shampoo set," said Sato. Another station master he did sign for thanked him with new socks."I couldn't help but laugh at that... But for me, it's just fun, and as long as it makes people happy, that's really all I need," he added. Long after many of the original station walls disappeared, Sato's lettering remains one of the most unlikely visual legacies to have emerged out of Tokyo's transit system.