“Akari has its rationale in being in relation to people … I was told early on that all a young couple needed in starting life together was a ‘futon’ and an Akari above—a pad and a light, that is, not only just light, but the Akari light which is a difference because it has a shape, a sense of being which is more than merely lighting a room, it is lighting itself, that is, the paper of which the Akari is made becomes luminous as a result of the light inside, on its surface, however distant the light may be from the light bulb, it all becomes a luminous surface.” [1]
—Isamu Noguchi

Isamu Noguchi’s work eludes a singular categorization. In 1951, he passed through the small town of Gifu along the Nagara River on his way to Hiroshima. Noguchi was taken with lanterns, called chochin, that illuminated the river. Handmade in Gifu, chochin were made from high-quality paper produced from mulberry bark and utilized in a decorative manner, rather than a purely utilitarian one. Noguchi adopted the methods of the Gifu artisans into his own practice, dubbing his lamps “Akari,” a Japanese word meaning “light.” His use of this term was twofold, as the word “light” can refer to both illumination and weightlessness. As a trademark of his Akari works, Noguchi adorned each lamp with a small emblem of a sun and crescent moon, which derives from the Chinese characters (明) for sun and moon. This ideogram can be seen in red ink at the base of the paper lamp. In his Akari practice, Noguchi sought to be an egalitarian, “to bring sculpture into a more direct involvement with the common experience of living.”[2] He also referred to his Akari as “elegant people’s art.” [3]

[1] Transcript for unused statement for Venice Biennale, 1986. MS_EXH_255_011: 2. The Noguchi Museum Archives

[2] I. Noguchi, A Sculptor’s World, New York, 1968, p. 159

[3] J. Christensen, 'In an Artist’s Light' in Sunday Star- Bulletin & Advertiser , October 1, 1978, p. C-1