Akira Yoshizawa was a Japanese origamist, he is considered to be the grandmaster of origami, credited with turning origami into a living artform. Yoshizawa estimated in 1989, that he had created more than 50,000 models, of which only a few hundred were included in his books.

Yoshizawa was an international cultural ambassador for Japan and in 1983, Japanese emperor Hirohito named him to the Order of the Rising Sun, one of the highest honours given to a Japanese citizen.

Yoshizawa pioneered many origami techniques, wet-folding is one of his most important contributions. The technique involves dampening the paper before making a fold, allowing the paper to be sculpted more easily, resulting in a softer style.

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