Shuzo Fujimoto’s Tenth Death Anniversary

Shuzo Fujimoto, Ian Harrison, Tomoko Fuse, and David Brill in Japan, December 8th 2003. Photographer unknown, picture courtesy of David Brill.

July 28th, 2025, will be the tenth anniversary of the death of Shuzo Fujimoto. This influential origami creator was a pioneer of geometric origami who introduced many techniques crucial for the development of origami tessellations, corrugations, and 3D objects. Some of his designs such as variants of the Hydrangea continue to be folded frequently. Others are not quite as famous, but still amaze with their beauty and cleverness. Have a look at the Catalog of Shuzo Fujimoto’s Works and explore his creations.

To celebrate this round anniversary, I am publishing (with permission from David Brill) this picture of Shuzo Fujimoto with Ian Harrison, Tomoko Fuse, and David Brill, taken in Sasayama, Japan, on December 8th, 2003. I am also publishing pictures of all the models folded by Shuzo Fujimoto himself that I received from Roberto Morassi. They have been in my possession for about two years now, so it’s about time to share them with the world. I have shown some of these pieces live at origami conventions, but I hope that pictures will also be useful, and able to reach a wider audience.

Analyzing those models is what prevented me from publishing the pictures earlier. I wanted to at least assign CFW numbers to these pieces, which takes time for checking if they match any model of the over 400 already cataloged and deciding what should be classified as a specific model and what as a more generic technique. There is still work to be done, but releasing these pictures in a timely manner is also important. Have a look at this blog post and enjoy.