Joe Hamamoto: Retired, but working harder than ever!

This video is a very rough edit. I got lazy after all these recent vids, and decided to pretty much just string a bunch of raw footage together, making for a very long video. Because it went over the time limit (11 minutes) and file size, I could not upload it to my YouTube account; and my one LiveDigital account is now over quota. So I decided to use Google Video.

Joe is at his best in entertainment. He is rather creative in his presentations. What I love most is how much delight he brings to people. I love watching their reactions and hearing their laughter.

Joe is also extremely generous, always folding hundreds of jars and bags of giveaway origami to hand out at festivals.

"I am who I want to be and now I want to be someone who is sleeping." 

 - Ferruccio from the Italian film, "Life is Beautiful"

Joe Demonstrates 3 Kasahara Models

Joe brought 3 new models to show off at the Monterey Park Cherry Blossom Festival. He is often imaginative in presenting stories to go along with his favorite models, to entertain folks. I have footage for one more video from last weekend's festival in Monterey Park, featuring Joe...retired, but still hard at work in origami. I also hope to go back and edit together a video from our presence at the Chinese-American Museum in March. There was one guy in particular that Joe had fun entertaining; I missed some of their funniest exchanges, though. I gotta learn to keep that camera running...



The models can be found in The Art and Wonder of Origami.

Cherry Blossom Festival, Monterey Park, CA- Origami Demonstration Pt 1

The video runs under 10 minutes; but I probably talked for almost 20. I blended both days into one video.

My material isn't well-rehearsed. What I mostly talk about is how the art of origami honors the traditions of the past by not only preserving it, but evolving from it. So I show off some modern origami that some people might not be aware of, in terms of types of origami, and the evolution of new creations.

My aim is also to get more people excited and involved in enjoyment and appreciation for the art.

Part II, III, and IV are below this post, in respective order. Photos of the 10th annual Cherry Blossom Festival in Monterey Park, CA, can be viewed here.

Cherry Blossom Festival, Monterey Park, CA- Origami Demonstration Pt 2

Part II covers the magic of moneyfolds.

The demonstration was only supposed to last for about a half hour; so, not much time to cover the wide-range of billfolds. So I showed off only a few, leading up to asking someone from the audience for a dollar (which, normally, I will examine, then stuff into my pocket, asking someone else for another one).

The Robert Neale flapping butterfly (with John Andrisan's cosmetic modifications) only takes me a minute to fold. Maybe even less time than that. With the right buildup, there really is a kind of magic to it. I don't think the video represents my best presentation, but it's what I have; and what you, the viewers, are stuck with.

Again, as in Part I, I blended both days into one video, extracting what I could, and tried to make a seamless blend. Some parts were not recorded, as my cameramen stopped filming at certain points. Many thanks to both of them: Jimmy Taggart, who filmed on the first day (April 21st) and is a magician and fellow paperfolder at WCOG; and Art Fukomoto, who is a volunteer at the Festival.

Sorry for the low quality of the sound.

Cherry Blossom Festival Indoor Demonstration Part 3- Yami Yamauchi

Yami taught his banger, to be used at the end of the presentation in an origami contest. He also taught the transition into the moving mouth, which I did not film all of; so I discluded (made up word? Still makes sense to me...) it altogether in the final edit.

Yami also wanted to mention Lillian Oppenheimer in Sunday's demo, and her contributions to the evolution of origami, and pioneering in the States. I think we got our signals mixed up, and he meant for me to talk about it. Hopefully, there are some in the crowd who will be inspired to look further into origami than what we could share in 30 minutes.

Cherry Blossom Festival Indoor Demonstration Part 4- Quickfold Showdown Game

Unfortunately, I did not pre-plan to have anyone film this part of the demo. So day one, I filmed what I could, while "MC-ing"; and the 2nd day I got Yami to just stand there and film (never expect the older generation to understand how to work today's technology).

Missing from the video is my explanation of the contest. Basically, I choose two volunteers from the audience for a showdown. Their objective is to fold a banger (any banger) and make it snap before the other person. The two paperslingers stand on opposite sides with the raw paper on the floor. For fun, you might get them into a cowboy stance, ready to "draw" (ie, fold). I brought a western soundtrack, as I had done before, to set the mood. On day two, I folded several hats, and Joe folded a couple of Marukai hats, so that the contestants could have something to wear, for fun. Originally, I wanted to use Darren Scott's Australian bush hat, and modify it into a cowboy hat. I didn't plan this out well enough in advance, and only managed to fold two of them on the day of. One was way big, and the other one was too small. I'll just have to chalk this up to experience, and learn from it next time. I think I'll drag things out longer next time with more bantering around with the contestants so that the audience can get to know them, and so I can make bad origami puns and deliver entertainer's jokes.

We're still learning as we go, and Yami and I weren't even sure what we would do for the demo until the weekend of the Festival. Not that we haven't done this previously; but everything is unrehearsed and unscripted. I do think we are getting better and better as we go along.

Holy cow...I'm blind as a bat!

How to fold a Marukai newspaper cap

I call it a "Marukai" hat, because Joe Hamamoto prefers to fold this model with Marukai ads. It's stiffer than your standard newspaper, and more durable. Joe says he learned this from Carol Stevens, but does not know the origins. I guess I'll have to ask Carol, the next time I see her.

How to fold 2 action models in less than 60 seconds

This is the first of a series of videos from last weekend's 10th annual Cherry Blossom Festival in Monterey Park. I have a new camera now with a 4 GB memory card, allowing me to take long clips; so no more need to "mask" the defects of my footage "cutting out" with music. I will start putting up some videos with the natural sounds.

Sometimes parents bring their kids to our tables, wanting us to teach their child something. A problem arises when the kid proves to be 2 years old. Often, the parent will find himself assisting his kid...then pretty much taking over all folding chores himself.

One of my favorite models to do for young kids is Yami's banger; which I can quickly transition into a moving mouth. I like it, because I can either fold this extremely fast for a young child with a short attention span; or, I can teach it fairly easily to kids old enough to understand the words that are coming out of my mouth.

Yami will use the banger model as a warm-up exercise for a new group of people at his table. It also allows one to gage the folding abilities of one's students.

It's fun to not tell the group what they are folding; I just tell them we are going to make a super complex model- something that is an absolute work of artistic beauty. When we are done folding the banger, of course it doesn't look like much of anything. I let them guess as to what it might be. A lot of times kids will say it's a book. I'll let them know that this is no ordinary book, because this book you don't have to read; it actually talks to you. Right before I move my arm up to snap it, I'll sometimes ask, "Oh...what's that over there?" and point behind them. As they turn their heads to look, I'll unload a thunderous snap from the banger.

In this video, I show a very fast transition to the moving mouth. One that works for me. If I'm folding the model for a child, I like to let them feel involved in the process by at least allowing them to glue on eyeballs (or drawing them in with a marker- you can also write a message inside the mouth). Joe uses eyeball stickers; I like those button eyeball thingies with the eyes that float around in the bubble. You can either apply glue stick yourself to where the eyes should go, or hand over full control to the child and give him the glue stick...and see exactly where the child thinks those eyes should be applied onto the model.

People seem to see different things when they see the moving mouth. For instance, some see a frog, others see Godzilla. Most everyone though, universally see that origami is fun and entertaining.

Later, I'll post a video up of Yami teaching the banger transition to the moving mouth, during our on-stage demonstration. He has a good method for teaching how to fold the mouth; mine is designed for expediency, from a performance standpoint for an audience.

Robert Lang's Origami Flag

The NYTimes Magazine asked 10 artists to design "green" flags to illustrate Thomas L. Friedman's cover story. Here's how origami artist Robert J. Lang created his flag.

Ready for the Weekend

Well...it's actually Monday; but "Ready for the Weekend" is the name of the vignette weekend tips that USA network does, in between commercials and their "movie of the week". Last summer, sometime, I got invited to do a very short segment. We filmed at a restaurant down by the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica.

I can't believe they edited out the part where after we folded the banger, I asked the host "What's that over there?"; when he turned his head, I unleashed the snap of the banger on his unsuspecting ear. I thought that was the funniest part of what we did. Oh, well.

Japanese Ambassador Honors Wounded U.S. Veterans

U.S. Army Pfc. Marissa Strock , left, a double-leg amputee wounded in Iraq, and her mother, Sandi Ogden, follow Japanese Lt. Col. Ichiro Sato's instructions as they fold origami paper into cranes during an evening at Ambassador Ryozo Kato's residence Feb. 23 in Washington, D.C.
Defense Dept. photo by John J. Kruzel

In Japan, people make origami paper cranes for the sick and injured as a prayer for their recovery. A group of 70 wounded US troops and their families found cranes waiting for them on their dinner tables February 23, when they attended a dinner in their honor at the residence of Japanese Ambassador Ryozo Kato.

Kato said they "carry the burden of service to their country," and he thanked them for their "service to the larger ideals that our two countires represent." Japan is a close ally to the United States, and a close ally in the war on terror.

Kato delivered a message fro Japan's prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, "the grateful people of Japan wish each of you health and success in the years ahead, just as we wish for the nation you serve."

Kato told the troops that although the two cultures differ, US troops represent Japan's 'samurai spirit.' "Samurai serve with valor, with honor, with loyalty, with respectful, ethical behavior, and so have you."

After a feast of Japanese cuisine, Japanese Self Defense Forces officers taught the guests how to fold origami cranes. "We make a crane to show our deepest compassion. This evening's dinner is a metaphor for a large paper crane.

Read more...

Hat tip: Gazing at the Flag

Origami Masterworks: Eric Joisel

Satoshi Kamiya Folds a Phoenix

Stop-Motion Origami

Hat tip: Anne LaVin

WCOG Christmas Meeting (December 9, 2006)

Yami, Joe, and myself had the opportunity to work a "gig". The pay would have been good; but the only problem was, it conflicted with the WCOG, last meeting of the year gathering. As Yami put it: "Screw the job offer. The origami meeting without you is no good. You should film the last meeting of the year." So, Yami knows best.

The December meeting saw the return of Phu Tran. He sounds busy, but I hope he doesn't stay away for too long from the Guild. Since Ben Muller and Jared Needle no longer come, it's nice to have some artists who are into complex origami add their talents to the group.

Breathing Life into Origami (the Japan Expo 2006, LA)

12/03/06 Here's a video from NewspeakTV:

For a larger screen, just click on the screen, and it'll open up a new browser, with a direct link.

It's not completely "child-friendly"; fortunately, for you visitors who are strictly origami-enthusiasts, I appear in the video during the first couple of minutes. It's pretty funny, throughout; but for all you kiddies below the age of 13, be responsible adults, and abstain from corrupting your young minds with inappropriate videos...until you turn 14. As for the rest of you: well...I'm pretty sure your minds are all quite corroded by now. So enjoy!

*End Update*

Joe abandoned Yami and I, to work in another booth on behalf of his church, I believe. And he was only at the Expo for a few hours on Saturday. Yami had what he called a "senior moment", when at the end of the day, Saturday, as we were packed up and ready to leave, he discovered that his keys were missing. We did everything short of calling for his auto service to come open the trunk door of his car. We didn't figure to do that until we came back the next day. *Groan*. What a relief, though, that he still has his keys. His next assignment: make duplicates! All of his keys, including his apartment key were on that one ring. This video focuses mainly on people's reactions to the Robert Neale bunny bill and flapping butterfly. One of the things that I love to try and capture is the magical effect origami has on people. Their joy expresses itself in their spontaneous reactions. Some of the best reactions, as usual, have been when the camera wasn't ready. I tried to get Yami to film me when I had a large audience; and another friend to do so when I went out in the middle of my area and launched the cicada boomerang glider far and wide, and still had it return back to me. But I guess my camera's too difficult for others to work with. I guess it's getting old, because the button gets stuck; and only I know how to jiggle it just right. One thing you don't see, is that I don't have the dollar butterfly pre-made. I fold it for the guests, on the spot, telling them about how we were going to bring their dollar bill to life. After I fold the model, I have the audience guess as to what I've folded. 98% of the time, they guess that it is a butterfly. I have a way of giving them a subliminal hint, if they are having trouble guessing. Works every time. The reason why you see so many people in the video blowing on the dollar, is because when I hold it up, I tell them that they must blow on it, to breathe life into it. Both Robert Neale models were introduced to me 5 years ago, by Joel Bauer, who did a magnificent job of selling their virtues to me. In his masterful hands and presentation abilities, the magic is there.

Photos can be found here.

There's "supercomplex", and then there's SUPERCOMPLEX EXTREME!

on exhibit at the Weisner Gallery, MIT (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
You guessed it. Folded from a single square. Unbelievable! Click the photo to be led to the source. If you're not familiar with Brian Chan's work, you need to visit his flickr album and website.

Cherin & Ward's Palehua Wedding

Yami, Joe, and myself were invited to help celebrate the marriage of Ward and Cherin Watanabe on October 29, 2006. This video encapsulates some of the fun we had with the guests. Photos can be seen here.

The song is by Amy Hanaiali'i Gilliom; called "Palehua". Cherin walked down the aisle to this contemporary Hawaiian song; and its echo lingered in my memory such that I asked her for the name of the song and artist. 2 days later after ordering it from Amazon, we have music for the footage I took of the origami aspect of her wedding.

Joe is simply amazing! I think he precreased 200 of his boxes for the guests.

Aquarium of the Pacific ~Autumn Festival~ November 4-5, 2006

I've been backed up on getting these videos out. Yami, Joe, and myself have been kept very busy. Besides time, I've been having difficulty figuring out music to go with each video. There really isn't much in the way of music for paperfolding. So some vids sit on the shelf, ready to be rolled out as soon as I figure out a theme. And most all of these need music; since I take 10-20 second clips, the natural audio just would come out incomplete and choppy.

I skipped ahead to the most recent festival we've done: The Aquarium of the Pacific, from the previous weekend. I believe it's my 4th or 5th time; with Yami and Joe, it's our third. If you want to see what we did in 2004 and 2005, just click away.

I took too much film footage. Since editing is so time-consuming, I took the easy way out and included most all of it....which makes for a very long video. YouTube only allows for a 10 minute maximum on videos; so I had to upload it to my LiveDigital.com account. The music choice is mostly because of the length of the video. Since I used Jaws music to bumper the previous two videos, and since it's an Aquarium setting we're dealing with here, I included it again, along with another John Williams classic score.

The one thing I'm excited about is David Brill's wedge flexicube. It is awesome! My first one, I had to apply some glue, as I used paper that was a bit thick, and it didn't hold together well. But the rest (and I've made several, because I like experimenting with color combinations and paper-type; plus, I know I'll be giving them away to friends) came out great! I purchased a copy for Joe Hamamoto as well. (He loves the David Brill double star flexicube). You can get a copy here, at the BOS website.

As usual, many of the most exciting moments are when the camera's not running. My cicada boomerang glider generates a lot of interest. It never fails. People always want to fold it after I toss it around. I know it's all fun and games until someone loses an eye; but I must say, it's highly entertaining to watch paperplanes whacking unsuspecting passersby....or seeing them duck for cover. Not when I throw it, but when other people throw their planes, and they don't quite have the hang of how to make it come back, yet.

As always, Joe was well-stocked on his free giveaways. One of these days, when I get a better camera that takes longer clips, I'll let you hear some of his humor. Yami's as well. They are extremely entertaining and highly popular with everyone.

My own favorite giveaways remain Arai's spinning top. I've learned to do Yami's method of stacking several sheets together, to expedite my time. I'll fold about 4 or 5 layers together and do the base; then separate the sheets for the last several steps to fold the top. The sacrifice on neatness is minimal, when I do this. Great model, and I can probably churn 'em out in 3 minutes, tops.



More photos here.

Former Secretary of Defense: OMG! He's one of us!

I thought this was cute; only the first minute is relevant to this blog: