8/11/2019 Akira Yoshizawa - Wikipedia

Akira Yoshizawa
Akira Yoshizawa (吉澤 章 Yoshizawa Akira; 14 March 1911 – 14 March 2005) was a Japanese origamist, considered to
Akira Yoshizawa
be the grandmaster of origami. He is credited with raising origami from a craft to a living art. According to his own
estimation made in 1989, he created more than 50,000 models, of which only a few hundred designs were presented as
diagrams in his 18 books. Yoshizawa acted as an international cultural ambassador for Japan throughout his career. In
1983, Emperor Hirohito awarded him the Order of the Rising Sun, 5th class, one of the highest honors bestowed in
Japan.

Contents
Life
Technique
Later years
Born Akira Yoshizawa
Books 14 March 1911
References Kaminokawa, Japan
Further reading Died 14 March 2005
External links (aged 94)
Itabashi, Japan
Occupation Artist
Life
Known for Origami
Yoshizawa was born on 14 March 1911, in Kaminokawa, Japan, to the family of a dairy farmer. When he was a child, he
took pleasure in teaching himself origami. He moved into a factory job in Tokyo when he was 13 years old. His passion for origami was rekindled in his early 20s,
when he was promoted from factory worker to technical draftsman. His new job was to teach junior employees geometry. Yoshizawa used the traditional art of
origami to understand and communicate geometrical problems.

In 1937 he left factory work to pursue origami full-time. During the next 20 years, he lived in total poverty, earning his living by door-to-door selling of tsukudani (a
Japanese preserved condiment that is usually made of seaweed). During World War II, Akira Yoshizawa served in the army medical corps in Hong Kong. He made
origami models to cheer up the sick patients, but eventually fell ill himself and was sent back to Japan.[1] His origami work was creative enough to be included in the
1944 book Origami Shuko, by Isao Honda (本多 功). However, it was his work for a 1952 issue of the magazine Asahi Graph that launched his career, which included
the 12 zodiac signs commissioned by a magazine.

In 1954 his first monograph, Atarashii Origami Geijutsu (New Origami Art) was published. In this work he established the Yoshizawa–Randlett system of notation
for origami folds (a system of symbols, arrows and diagrams[2]), which has become the standard for most paperfolders. The publishing of this book helped
Yoshizawa out of his poverty. It was followed closely by his founding of the International Origami Centre in Tokyo in 1954, when he was 43.

His first overseas exhibition was organized in 1955 by Gershon Legman, a leading player in the early years of the origami movement. The exhibition was held at the
Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. Felix Tikotin, a Dutch dealer, acted as a liaison.

Yoshizawa lent many of his own origami models to other exhibitions around the world. He would never sell his origami figures, but rather gave them away as gifts to
people, and let other groups and organizations borrow them for exhibiting.

His second wife, Kiyo Yoshizawa, served as his manager and taught origami to the other patients until his death from pneumonia on his 94th birthday.[3]

Technique
Although Akira Yoshizawa pioneered many different origami techniques, wet-folding is one of his most significant
contributions. This technique involves slightly dampening the paper before making a fold. Wet-folding allows the paper
to be manipulated more easily, resulting in finished origami models that have a rounder and more sculpted look. The
ability to create origami with a more realistic appearance was an important advancement in paper folding, since it took
models away from the realm of simple crafts and towards true artistic expression.

Wet-folding is most often used with thicker paper; normal origami paper is very thin and thus prone to tearing when
using the wet-folding technique.[1] Yoshizawa believed the process was the most important part. He was known to say
that, "When you fold, the ritual and the act of creation is more important than the final result. When your hands are busy
your heart is serene". A wet-folded origami bull

Later years

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8/11/2019 Akira Yoshizawa - Wikipedia
In March 1998, Yoshizawa was invited to exhibit his origami in the Carrousel du Louvre.[4] Although he had previously disliked his contemporaries, he was not
opposed to having his photo taken with them. Many of his patterns had been diagrammed by his professional rivals, which angered Yoshizawa when he was younger.
However, as he had aged, he found that he now enjoyed the company of his peers.

Akira Yoshizawa died on 14 March 2005 in a hospital in Itabashi Ward, Tokyo due to complications of pneumonia on his 94th birthday.[3]

Books
Atarashii Origami Geijutsu, Origami Geijutsu-Sha 1954[5]
Origami Reader I, Ryokuchi-Sha 1957[5]
Dokuhon, Vol.1 (Origami Tokuhon), 1973, ISBN 4-8216-0408-6
Sosaku Origami (Creative Origami), Nippon Hoso Kyokai 1984, ISBN 4-14-031028-6
Dokuhon, Vol.2 (Origami Tokuhon), 1986[5]
Origami Dokuhon II (Origami Reader II), Kamakura Shobo 1986, ISBN 4-308-00400-4

References
1. "Akira Yoshizawa", Origami (http://origami.about.com/od/History-Of-Origami/a/Akira-Yoshizawa-Origami-Biography.htm) (biography), About.
2. "History of Origami" (https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/between-the-folds/history.html). Independent Lens. PBS. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
3. Fox, Margalit (2 April 2005). "Akira Yoshizawa, 94, Modern Origami Master" (https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F07E4DC113FF931A35757C0A9
639C8B63). The New York Times. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
4. "Eric Joisel, French origami artist who mastered animal and human forms in complex paper-folded sculptures" (https://web.archive.org/web/20130118124840/htt
p://www.ericjoisel.com/about_assets/times.pdf) (PDF). Times Newspaper. October 2010. Archived from the original (http://www.ericjoisel.com/about_assets/time
s.pdf) (PDF) on 2013-01-18. Retrieved 2015-10-02.
5. Yoshizwa's books (http://www.britishorigami.info/academic/lister/yoshizawa_books.php) (list), British Origami Society (BOS).

Further reading
Engel, Peter (30 November 1994), Origami from Angelfish to Zen, Dover Pubn, ISBN 978-0-486-28138-4.

External links
"Obituary" (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article439880.ece), Times, London
Lister, David, Tribute (http://britishorigami.info/academic/lister/yoshizawa_tribute.php), British Origami.
Akira Yoshizawa Origami Collections (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruZJZf8_y3Y)

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