Origami Pioneer Passes On

[Mulboyne]

Newsday: Origami Artist Akira Yoshizawa Dies at 94
Akira Yoshizawa, an origami master whose expressive paper gorillas made an art out of Japan's craft tradition, died March 14 of heart failure and pneumonia, his wife said Sunday. He was 94. Moving far beyond paper cranes and hats, Yoshizawa's origami gorillas appeared ready to lumber through the jungle and his frogs looked like they were on the verge of leaping off their lily pads. His international success gave origami a new respectability in Japan. "At first, people only thought of origami as entertainment for children," said his wife of 45 years, Kiyo Yoshizawa. "Gradually, it won acceptance."

[kurohinge1]

... Origami Artist Akira Yoshizawa Dies at 94 ...

I wonder if he left instructions for his funeral ...

[Mulboyne]

Yoshizawa's widow, Kiyo, says that she has 20,000 of her husband's origamii works in her house in Nerima-ku, Tokyo and feels she is getting too old to look after them properly. Many are crammed into boxes and the risk of moisture damage or simple deterioration is high. She says her husband just enjoyed making them and gave no thought to where they might end up. Ordinarily, origami would just be seen as ephemera but Yoshizawa was such a major figure in promoting the hobby that there's an appeal now under way to raise some money and find a place to keep them. His home prefecture of Tochigi might be one location.

Asahi story here.