![]() ![]() The JOAS way is for people to see all the models on offer, then queue up to book the sessions they would like to attend. I rose early next morning and sampled my first Japanese breakfast which consisted of rice and soup, quite a change from my normal peanut butter and cheese on toast! We arrived early so I could fold examples of models I’m going to teach. It’s wonderful to see the Japanese on their home ground where they can relax and stretch out a little – I begin to understand why they seem so baffled/reserved when attending a British convention – it really is a different world here. The concept of a “vegetarian called meat” prompts them to come up with a variety of puns that are way above my head. The Japanese are delighted to notice that my names sounds very like “niku”, the word for meat. Yamaguchi works his wonders and everyone is happy. The difficulty seems to be that whilst I’m more than happy with rice, noodles, a few vegetables and some tofu, the restaurants don’t consider that a proper dish and feel they would be short-changing me. Veggies are an unknown quantity in Japan, especially “proper” ones who don’t eat fish. (In the evening, we go to a Chinese restaurant where I encounter the first of many blank looks as I try to explain the concept of vegetarianism to the waiters. They have managed to get some of the “veteran” folders on board, included the talented Steven Casey, who designed the “brick” from which the house was built. Their group are still in their infancy, but seem to have a team capable of great things. The talk is partially in Japanese and highly entertaining. Matt Gardiner (gives a highly animated presentation about a project his Folding Australia group have completed, the construction of a life-size origami house. The room is a large lecture theatre with three display screens showing videos and the weekends schedule. They include Yamaguchi Makoto, Nishikawa Seiji, Maekawa Jun, Hatori Koshiro, Hojyo Takashi, Kamiya Satoshi, Kimura Yoshihisa and Komatsu Hideo, Tateishi Koichi & Miyuki Kawamura. Most of the JOAS board are present, each busy with several tasks at once. Back to the Origami Gallery House for a quick break from the sweltering humidity, then off to the convention, a 10 minute walk away. Since we are all asking for large sheets, we arrange a time later in the week to collect them. 45 minutes slips happily by until the schedule obliges us to make our minds up and place orders. The idea is to choose the paper type, then hand them in at the counter and specify how large a sheet we require. In the centre of the room are many display cases containing thousands of sheets of paper of every hue and texture. It is a plain white room, with all the walls formed from thin drawers containing paper. ![]() This is an extraordinary place, as far removed from a conventional shop as you can imagine. The splendid Sakamoto woman calls for me and we catch up with the others as the white paper shop. I sleep the sleep of the dead until around 9.30 when a phone call reminds me I should have a) had breakfast at 8 and b) should have been at the Origami Gallery House by 9.30. As an example he showed us some beautiful female forms, a dinosaur and comic duck. ![]() He showed how this software had developed to become quite a sophisticated system capable of producing patterns which, when we cut out, could be assembled into almost any shape required. The next presentation was by ? who has developed special software for use in origami. This was about an amazing exhibition they had organised where a life-size origami house was constructed using special modular bricks designed by Steven Casey. My fellow guest Jason Ku, gave a short speech then we sat down to enjoy a presentation by Matt from Folding Australia. The convention was held in the University of Tokyo and started on the Friday afternoon with General introductions and joy of joys, a 45 minute speech from yours truly! This was based round a power point presentation translated by Hatori Koshiro in which I explained about my origami philosophy, folders that I admired and a little bit of personal history. We were both very tired and had a couple of hours’ sleep before going out for a meal and of course a couple of beers! The room was full of beautiful Origami and made by folders from all around the world. We took the train into the centre of Tokyo (an hours journey) then took a taxi to the JOAS gallery House where we met Yamaguchi and his staff. The first thing that hit us as we left the plane was the amazing heat – it was just like entering a sauna bath. Dave Brill and I set off at 9:30 on Wednesday but due to the time difference and a transfer in Paris we didn’t arrive in Tokyo until 8 o’clock the next day. ![]()
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