On this day, the first group of Kansai students gathered in Osaka, where Morisawa's headquarters are located.
The Kansai team is made up of 13 people from universities across the Kansai region, including Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, and Shiga. The team will work together for six months leading up to the event on February 18th.

At the meeting, advisor Hashizume first gave a presentation about Morisawa and the FONT SWITCH PROJECT.

We also visited the beautiful showroom, which was recently renovated last year.

The explanation began with, "Morisawa began in 1948 when Nobuo Morisawa founded Phototypesetter Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (later renamed Morisawa Phototypesetter Manufacturing Co., Ltd.) in Osaka City."
Through valuable materials and documents, the students learned about Morisawa's history since its founding and the history of "letters," a tool that only humans have access to, while experiencing the depth of letters and typefaces with all five senses.

"Morisawa started making typefaces after inventing the phototypesetter!"
"The analog feel of a manual typesetter is irresistible..."
"It's amazing to be able to see William Morris's Collected Works of Chaucer in person!

The students were fascinated and fascinated, discovering new aspects of Morisawa and being captivated by the books they had seen in their textbooks.

An exciting self-introduction

We returned to the venue and it was finally time for the exciting self-introductions.
"I was attracted to type design and fell in love with letters."
"I work part-time at a bookstore."
"I like mountain climbing."
"Dancing is my special skill"
In addition to the commonality of "interest in fonts," each individual's individuality gradually became apparent, creating a friendly atmosphere in the meeting.

Then, they drew lots with lunch box numbers written on them, and decided to have lunch with the members who drew the same numbers. After introducing themselves, the members gradually relaxed, and they got excited talking about each other's schools and hometowns, and they started to get along well.

To become familiar with fonts, first input some knowledge!

After lunch, the font seminar began, where participants learned a variety of knowledge.
For professional designers and creators, we learned about the importance of typefaces and typesetting, as well as the depth of familiar fonts, such as the key points to consider when actually creating them.

There will also be gamified workshops where participants will have to find specific fonts in their own belongings or search for the correct font.
"The 'ni' part is large, so the element is decorative, so maybe it's old-style?"
"The distinctive feature of this font is that the characters fill the entire area...it's a new style!"
I carefully considered each element, gradually turning on the font's sensibility.

Presentation of the assignment

After the font seminar, we were given assignments to complete until the next committee meeting.
The theme was "Region Name x Typeface," in which students expressed the name of a region that they felt they had a strong sense of identity through typeface. Using the examples provided by their advisor as a reference, each student worked on the assignment until the submission deadline in September.

The members' sensitivity to fonts was fully awakened in today's first meeting. The purpose of this assignment is to further brush up their awareness and sensitivity to fonts.

In our next report, we will report on the discussions taking place in preparation for the event six months from now!

In the first half, the Kansai Moripass Club took in a lot of information, from their thrilling first meeting to a tour of the showroom and a font seminar. In the second half, we'll show you how they continued to discuss the plans for the event, which is just six months away!

Then, in order to come up with concrete plans for the February event, everyone gathered together to discuss. By September, each team will submit at least three different plan proposals.

Looking at the results of a font awareness survey that had been conducted in advance among various university students, we decided to start by compiling the results and writing down the reasons for their opinions. At first, the members were unsure how to proceed, but gradually everyone began to speak up proactively.

Each member was so willing to participate that it was hard to believe they were meeting for the first time today: Fumoto-kun, who took the initiative in moving the discussion forward; Irie-san, who picked up on everyone's opinions and wrote them down on the whiteboard; Uno-san, who explained the circumstances surrounding the school's fonts; Ogawa-kun, who tried to break down the reasons why it was difficult to switch on to fonts; and Yonehara-Yonekawa, who shared his own views.

As everyone started speaking up, the atmosphere gradually became more relaxed.
"Why is this the situation?"
"Don't you all have no money anyway?"
"It's all about the money after all...!"
There were also some moments of laughter that only the Kansai members could muster.

From Fumoto-kun
"Tell me the moment when everyone's font switch was turned on!"
When asked,
"I was looking at a design app and I started to get interested in fonts."
"I've always loved old books, and I've grown to love cool, old fonts."
"The teacher's passionate talk about fonts was interesting."
"I was surprised by the beautiful typefaces and the design of the letters."
They tried to find inspiration for the project from their own experiences, such as:

After about an hour of discussion,
"Events are short, so you have to make a big impact in that moment."
"If I find even one font that I like, it might turn me on."
It seems that morale regarding the planning process has also increased considerably.

"I want to do something interesting by combining fonts with different genres!"

Finally, the advisor spoke about the production process of last year's free magazine, saying, "If you have enthusiasm, you can take on even difficult projects," which raised the students' expectations that they would be able to think up projects with a broader perspective than school assignments.

After the day's meeting ended, I spoke to the members and they said,
"I realized I need to study more about fonts."
"I was surprised to see how many members were already knowledgeable about fonts."
There was an honest voice saying,

Furthermore,
"The members of the group all share the same interest in fonts as me and are highly conscious about fonts, so the discussions were very enjoyable."
"I want to come up with an interesting project that combines fonts with a completely different genre."
Some members spoke of their enthusiasm for the future.

From now on, the Kansai team will continue to discuss online and offline until the assignment submission deadline in September, and will finalize the assignment and project proposal. In November, the Kansai team will be able to participate voluntarily and connect with the Tokyo team via video conference to check on progress and interact with the Tokyo team.

Compared to the Tokyo team, the Kansai team is smaller in number and will be active for a shorter period of time. The bright and positive atmosphere that was already evident from the first meeting will surely continue as they move forward towards the February event. Please look forward to seeing Tokyo and Kansai inspire each other and compete with each other!