Akira Yoshizawa, Japan's Greatest Origami Master: Featuring over 60 Models and 1000 Diagrams by the Master 2nd ed.

This is the first comprehensive survey of the extraordinary work of Akira Yoshizawa, who is widely acknowledged to be the father of modern origami. This book presents Yoshizawa's own collection of over 60 models folded by the master himself along with instructional drawings and texts from his private collectionumost of them published here for the very first time.Yoshizawa was an avid innovator who played a seminal role in the "rebirth" of origami in the modern world. He served as a bridge between past and present—between the ancient traditional craft and the development of origami as a modern practice—both in terms of inventing new techniques and in preserving the traditional Japanese forms of origami. Above all, he elevated origami to the status of a true art. It is largely due to his work that origami today is practiced in every country of the world and has a huge international following.The modern origami notational system of diagrams used to indicate how the models are folded was invented by Akira Yoshizawa. This book features over 1000 original drawings by the man himself, showing how he developed and used this system of notation. For this reason alone, it is a "must-have" for every origami enthusiast!Faithful English translations of Yoshizawa's writings on origami are included. These were mainly created to make origami interesting for Japanese children, whom he inspired by granting free rein to their imagination. The book also contains an introduction by Robert Lang, one of the West's leading exponents of origami art, and a biography and exposition of the master's own personal philosophy by Yoshizawa's widow, Kiyo Yoshizawa.Photographs of the models were taken expressly for the book by Kazuo Hamada, a leading Japanese art photographer.