Akari, pendant light, model H
designed (1971)

• Isamu NOGUCHI (designer)
• OZEKI & CO., Gifu (manufacturer)

Isamu Noguchi’s life was a constant journeying, both spiritual and physical, between two cultures. In 1951 he visited the town of Gifu, known for its manufacture of traditional paper lanterns, known as chochin. Noguchi’s ideas for sculpture were uninhibited by conventional boundaries, and he recognised the potential in the idea of light sculptures that could be installed in domestic living environments. This resulted in his first range of Akari light sculptures, the word akari meaning ‘illumination’ but also implying a sense of lightness. Over the next thirty years Noguchi produced over two hundred designs for table, floor and pendant lights, many of which are still in production today.