About Akira Yoshizawa: Japanese Origami (1911 – 2005)
Yoshizawa (Yoshizawa chapter Yoshizawa; March 14, 1911 – March 14, 2005) was a Japanese origami master, considered a master of origami. He is credited with elevating origami from a craft to a living art. By his own estimate in 1989, he created more than 50,000 models, of which only a few hundred designs are presented in graphic form in his 18 books. Yoshizawa has served as Japan’s international cultural ambassador throughout his career. In 1983, Emperor Hirohito awarded him the Order of the Rising Sun, 5th Class, one of the highest honors conferred by Japan.
Life
Yoshizawa was born on March 14, 1911, into a family of dairy farmers in Kamikawa, Japan. When he was a child, he took pleasure in teaching himself origami. At the age of 13, he moved to work in a factory in Tokyo. His passion for origami reignited in his early 20s, when he rose from factory worker to technical draftsman. His new job is teaching junior staff geometry. Yoshizawa uses the traditional art of origami to understand and communicate geometric issues.
In 1937, he left the factory to work full-time in origami. For the next 20 years, he lived in abject poverty, earning a living selling tsukokudani, a Japanese pickled condiment often made from seaweed, door to door. During World War II, Yoshizawa served in the Hong Kong Army Medical Corps. He made origami models to comfort patients, but eventually fell ill and was sent back to Japan.His origami work was so creative that it was included in the 1944 book origami repairman, by Isao Honda.However, this is what he did for the 1952 magazine Asahi This kicked off his career, which included a magazine commission of 12 zodiac signs.
His first monograph in 1954, Neolithic Origami Art (New Art of Origami) published. In this work, he established the Yoshizawa-Randlett symbol system for origami folds (a system of symbols, arrows, and diagrams) that has become the standard for most origami. The publication of this book helped Yoshizawa escape poverty. He was followed by the establishment of the International Origami Center in Tokyo in 1954, when he was 43 years old.
In 1955, his first overseas exhibition was organized by Gershon Legman, an early leader of the origami movement. The exhibition is held at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. The Dutch distributor Felix Tikotin acted as liaison.
Yoshizawa has lent many of his own origami models to other exhibitions around the world. He would never sell his origami dolls, but give them as gifts for other groups and organizations to borrow for exhibitions.
His second wife, Kiyo Yoshizawa, served as his manager and taught other patients origami until he died of pneumonia on his 94th birthday.
technology
Wet folded origami bull
Although Yoshizawa pioneered many different origami techniques, wet folding is one of his most important contributions. This technique involves wetting the paper slightly before folding. Wet folding makes the paper easier to work with, giving the finished origami model a rounder and more sculpted look. The ability to create origami with a more realistic appearance is an important advancement in origami as it moves models away from the realm of simple craftsmanship and towards true artistic expression.
Wet folding is most often used for thicker paper; normal origami paper is very thin and therefore tends to tear when wet folding techniques are used. Yoshizawa believes this process is the most important part. He is known to say: “When you fold, the act of ritual and creation is more important than the end result. When your hands are busy, your heart is at peace”.
old age
In March 1998, Yoshizawa was invited to exhibit his origami works at the Louvre Carrousel. Although he didn’t like his contemporaries before, he wasn’t averse to taking pictures with them. Many of his patterns were drawn by his professional rivals, which angered Yoshizawa in his youth. However, as he gets older, he finds that he now enjoys the company of his peers.
Yoshizawa died on March 14, 2005, at a hospital in Tokyo’s Itabashi Ward, due to complications from pneumonia on his 94th birthday.
books
- Neolithic Origami ArtOrigami Art Club 1954
- Origami Reader IGreenland Club 1957
- Unique Vol.1 (Origami Deben), 1973, ISBN 4-8216-0408-6
- Create origami (Creative Origami), Nippon Hoso Kyokai 1984, ISBN 4-14-031028-6
- Unique Vol.2 (Origami Deben), 1986
- Origami Book II (Origami Reader II), Kamakura Shobo 1986, ISBN 4-308-00400-4
Check more articles in our categories Celebrity & News & Wiki.
Thanks for visiting we hope our article About Akira Yoshizawa: Japanese Origami (1911 – 2005)
, don’t forget to share the article on Facebook, twitter and e-mail with the hashtags ☑️ #Akira #Yoshizawa #Japanese #Origami ☑️!