How this Baguio artist wove a quiet image of PH–Japan friendship

The profitable brand attracts from two culturally rooted supplies: Japanese shimenawa ropes and Filipino abaca, also called Manila hemp

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – In a metropolis the place fog slows the day and mountains mood ambition, artist Edmon Fuerte didn’t got down to design a nationwide image. He joined a brand contest, he says, nearly casually — one thing he did as a pastime. On the time, he was in what he calls a interval of “quiet recalibration,” each personally and creatively.

That quiet act would quickly journey far past Baguio.

In December 2025, the governments of the Philippines and Japan introduced that Fuerte’s design had been chosen because the official commemorative brand for the 2026 Philippines–Japan Friendship Yr, marking 70 years for the reason that normalization of diplomatic relations between the 2 nations. Chosen from submissions from around the globe, the emblem will function the visible image of a yearlong celebration underneath the theme “Weaving the Future Collectively: Peace, Prosperity, Potentialities.”

A design formed by place

For Fuerte, place issues. Primarily based in Baguio Metropolis, his work is formed by its terrain and tempo. The mountains, the fog, the way in which gentle shifts slowly throughout the day.

“The town encourages a slower, extra attentive mind-set,” he says. That attentiveness would turn out to be central to a brand constructed not on grand imagery, however on supplies and meanings that reward shut wanting.

When he first encountered the theme, it was a single phrase that anchored his considering: weaving. From there got here the picture of threads. Linked, intertwined, and held collectively by stress as a lot as concord.

Ropes that carry historical past

The ultimate brand attracts from two culturally rooted supplies: Japanese shimenawa ropes and Filipino abaca, also called Manila hemp.

Fuerte was drawn to each for comparable causes. Shimenawa, utilized in Japan to mark sacred areas, alerts respect, safety, and transition. Abaca, deeply woven into Philippine historical past, is formed by labor and panorama, linked to weaving traditions, commerce, and resilience.

“They’re humble, hand-worked supplies,” Fuerte explains, “however they carry which means past their bodily kind.”

Within the brand, these ropes are intertwined, rendered within the colours of each nations’ flags, incorporating the Japanese solar and the Philippine solar and three stars. The picture suggests not dominance or fusion, however continuity. Two strands retaining their id whereas strengthening one another.

Balancing symbolism and restraint

Essentially the most tough a part of the method, Fuerte says, was deciding how far to summary the references with out shedding cultural integrity. The design wanted to talk throughout borders and contexts. Recognizable, however not literal; symbolic, however not heavy-handed.

That restraint displays Fuerte’s broader philosophy. Requested to explain his creative observe in a single sentence, he doesn’t hesitate: “Be minimal, and fewer is extra.”

A quiet milestone

Fuerte was on the workplace when the official electronic mail arrived, informing him that his design had been chosen. The response was speedy. Thrill, delight, disbelief! His brand had been chosen over entries from around the globe.

The popularity comes with tangible rewards, together with a round-trip enterprise class flight between Manila and Tokyo courtesy of Japan Airways. However for Fuerte, the bigger weight lies elsewhere.

“I really feel grateful and blessed,” he says, understanding his work will likely be seen not simply within the Philippines, however in Japan, throughout official occasions all through 2026.

Requested which phrase from the theme resonates most, his reply turns private. Prosperity, he says, as a result of he comes from a poor household, and hopes that at some point, prosperity is not going to simply be symbolic, however lived.

What the emblem hopes to say

Even with out understanding the backstory, Fuerte hopes the emblem communicates one thing easy and human.

“A way of connection,” he says. “One thing quiet, however intentional.”

Wanting again, he sees the second not as a end result, however as a marker. Proof that the values he has been cultivating matter: respect for materials, sensitivity to tradition, and attentiveness to course of.

In a 12 months meant to rejoice seven many years of diplomatic ties, it’s becoming that the image chosen didn’t arrive with spectacle. It arrived woven patiently and intentionally by an artist who understands that the strongest bonds are sometimes the quietest ones. – Rappler.com