Kunihiko kasahara biography books

At that time, Kasahara became immersed in origami and in June, he was able to hold his first exhibition at a gallery at Hibiya Park in Tokyo. Yoshizawa had first come to the notice of the West in when an exhibition of his work was held at the Stedelijks Museum in Amsterdam. However, news of other folders was slow to emerge from Japan.

Then in the summer ofLillian Oppenheimer of New York unexpectedly received a letter from Yasuo Nakanishi, the Japanese historian of origami, who gave her the names of two creative Japanese folders. One was Toyoaki Kawai and the other was Kunihiko Kasahara. Kasahara was then still aged only 23, so this was, indeed, a great tribute. Some two-piece animals followed the form originated by Yoshizawa and used frequently by him and also used by Isao Honda.

These two books were the first of many and Kasahara is acknowledged to be the most prolific of all authors of origami books, exceeding even those of Yoshihide Momotani and Tomoko Fuse.

Kunihiko kasahara biography books: Kasahara's first book was followed by

The total number of his titles is now approximatelyand they have been published in Japanese, Korean, English and German. Soon kunihiko kasahara biography books this, he left the pharmaceutical company and for a time he tried a number of occupations to earn his living, but his ambition was to make his living from origami. InMrs. There Mrs Takahama met Lillian Oppenheimer and she was privately impressed by the way in which the Western folders of the Origami Center freely associated together on equal terms.

It was unlike the master and pupil relationship which was traditional in Japan and which had been followed by Yoshizawa and later by Kawai. Another member was Mitsunobu Sonobe, the inventor of the Sonobe module. For a few years Sosaku Origami 67 became very influential and a catalyst for exploring new ideas in origami in Japan. In some way it rivalled Isao Honda.

It made his folding accessible to the West. Undoubtedly, as a result of these lessons, his confidence and experience increased. InKasahara made a contract to write no less than thirteen books on origami. At last he was able to devote himself whole-time to writing and origami. The effort required to complete the series must have been huge, but he succeeded with a combination of traditional models and his own creations.

His models often foreshadowed methods of folding that he developed in later years. Some of the books included models from the classic origami works, Sembazuru Orikata, Chushingura Orikata and Kayaragusa also incorrectly known as the Kan no mado. Apart from instructions for models, it contained a series of short pages of text in which he set out his ideas about folding.

InKasahara wrote a serious boxed book about the Senbazuru Orikatawith clear instructions for folding series of multiple cranes. Contrasting with this serious work, Kasahara also wrote a series of four small books for children, which were delightfully illustrated in colour and were published in both Japanese and English. An interesting venture for Kasahara came about inwhen it was arranged that he should co-operate with Alice Gray of the Origami Center of New York in the writing of a book of quite simple folds in English.

The two authors both contributed models, although they did not meet and the book was put together by the Japanese publishers. Alice wrote the text and was assisted by Lillian Oppenheimer. The errors were not put right until the second edition of It even includes spiral folding and modulars. Although he had always recognised that origami was firmly based in geometry, he had not regarded complex mathematical origami with any great favour and his own creations remained fairly simple.

However, in the s something caused him to change his mind. It was the time when the revolutionary techniques of Fred Rohm and Neal Elias that were transforming folding in the West, were being brought back to Japan. While Kasahara did not adopt advanced mathematical techniques in his own models, he began to write books which explained the new mathematical techniques that were being developed in both Japan and the West.

The determining influence that confirmed for Kasahara this change in his convictions was his discovery of a young Japanese folder named Jun Maekawa, who displayed a fluent mastery of the mathematical approach to origami and also showed great promise in using this mastery of geometry to give creative results. It used complex derivatives of the classic bases to make possible the folding of birds, animals, insects and sea creatures with all their many appendages.

It was a method of folding which was soon to lead to the design by computer of specialised bases and creases patterns uniquely appropriate for a particular models. In this book Kasahara cast his net wider and featured a collection of the work of some of the leading advanced creative folders from around the world. But by no means all of the models were mathematically based nor were all of the creators primarily concerned with the mathematical approach.

The Japanese text was accompanied by English sub-titles. Significantly, it included the Sonobe module by Mitsunobe Sonobe and also the magical Fujimoto Ciube by Shuzo Fujimoto, a mere token of the extensive and diverse creative work of a folder who has introduced a whole galaxy of new techniques into origami. The postscript to the book mentioned the veteran folder, Professor Koji Fushimi, an atomic physicist, who lamented the exclusion of elementary geometry form the school curriculum.

Kunihiko kasahara biography books: Follow Kunihiko Kasahara and

Lillian Oppenheimer wrote the Foreword for it. Being full of innovative ideas, it had an immediate impact in the West and for many years became the standard manual of advanced folding. But Kasahara had not yet finished. Again, Lillian Oppenheimer wrote the Foreword. Kosho Uchiyama was a Buddhist priest who lived in a temple Kyoto, but Kasahara managed to meet him when he visited Tokyo.

From him Uchiyama Kasahara received a more encouraging response. Uchiyama, told him that he thought his models were brilliant and urged him to continue. According to David Lister 1 'in June, he was able to hold his first exhibition at a gallery at Hibiya Park in Tokyo.

Kunihiko kasahara biography books: Origami Omnibus: Paper Folding for EverybodyOrigami

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