The beautiful world of Japanese folding screens
Featuring Yoshitsugu Yamaji, the "Byobu" artist
Have you heard of "Byobu"?
Byobu is a traditional Japanese folding screen made of wood and paper.
Yoshitsugu Yamaji, a Hiroshima-prefecture-based Japanese folding screen artist (called a "Hyogu-shi") has been creating wonderful artworks for years.
Best known as an artist for "the Wind and Thunder Gods" featured at the Kenninji temple in Kyoto,
Yoshitsugu has been working at a Japanese folding screen company called TAIZAN-DO.
This very traditional company has more than 100 years of history.
Yoshitsugu's father, Saburo, was also a Byobu artist.
Quite often using gold and silver leaves, Yoshitsugu has carefully painted and created many screens.
His masterpieces can be seen in many hotels, temples, government buildings, and so forth.
Small versions of Byobu are very popular in the USA as partitions and many Westerners use them at home.
Since Byobu are made with a very thin Japanese paper called "washi", artists must have extremely precise and delicate hands.
Yoshitsugu also makes replica Byobu by taking pictures of Japanese Zhuangbiao and printing them on washi paper.
He paints and reproduce real atmospheres using fading colors or the touch of a brush.
We hope his works can be seen in the USA as well.
If you want to appreciate his works virtually, check these links!
We are excited to see more of Yoshitsugu's brilliant works in the near future.
