This post previously appeared on the home page.
Chiyogami: Hand-Printed Patterned Papers of Japan (Kodansha International, 1992) is a book by Ann Herring on the art that originated in the Edo period (1603–1867).
In the upper right of this page is a detail from figure 91 (click on it to enlarge), identified in the book's caption as half of a spread from the June 1943 issue of the magazine Collection. The caption says it is a "collotype plate [reproducing] an alphabet-based chiyogami pattern designed by Ryushi Kawabata."
Looking through Chiyogami, I came across this figure and thought it might be a wonderful way to introduce visitors to the themes of this site: the printed word, art, design—and the blending they undergo when one takes an intellectual and artistic approach to life. With books like Herring's, a mind filled with ideas and images, and a gaze focused on life's promise and ephemerality, we can proceed toward Some Perfect Future.
Detail of figure 91 in Chiyogami by Ann Herring.
Image from the Jomonjin page on R.K.