March 3, 2021 to January 5, 2022

 

Taro Yaguchi is an international patent agent and origami artist who lives in Philadelphia. Yaguchi’s love of paper began when he was growing up in Japan. He was fortunate to have experienced his grandfather’s washi factory where they hand processed traditional Japanese paper made from local fibers. Yaguchi was captivated to see “how a plant was transformed into a shiny, thin, yet strong fiber.”  

His respect for paper, plants, and nature eventually coalesced and today, Yaguchi is considered an origami master. His practice of origami started at a tradeshow in 2001, when he created a simple origami paper airplane design with his firm’s information on one side and the design on the other. It proved to be such a popular idea that attendees stopped by his booth and many, grabbed multiple origami sheets. It was then, that Yaguchi realized the power that origami has and its universal appeal.  

Over the years, Yaguchi has strived to make origami accessible to “new folders,” as he describes them, because there are numerous benefits attributed to the art of paper folding. Origami is considered a meditative process that enhances the development of motor skills, logical thinking, and the ability to follow sequential instructions. Yaguchi has said, “when someone sees a square piece of paper untouched by scissors, folded into all kinds of miniature natural creatures, one is often healed and inspired.”  

Visit tarosorigami.com