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Created 21/4/2022. Last updated 20/3/2026.

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My thanks to Michael LaFosse and Richard Alexander for sharing their copy of this article with me.

According to Wikipedia, Leland Stowe 'won a Pulitzer Prize in 1930 for his coverage of the Reparations Conference in The Hague. Stowe was a runner-up for a second Pulitzer Prize in 1940 for his work as a war correspondent in World War II and his coverage of the Russo-Finnish War.' 'In 1955, he became a professor of journalism at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. During his tenure, he alternated between teaching one semester each academic year and working as an editor and staff writer for Reader's Digest.'

His article in Beacon Magazine was subsequently republished, in a slightly different form, in the USA version of the August 1970 'Reader's Digest' which claimed to have a worldwide circulation of over 29 million copies in 13 languages. The article was subsequently republished, again in slightly different forms, in the UK edition in October 1970, in the Spanish language edition in November 1970 and in the French and Italian language editions in December 1970. It is quite possible that it was also published in many other languages as well, but I have no evidence of this at present.

Since 'Reader's Digest' ostensibly existed to republish work that had previously appeared elsewhere, it is conceivable that Leland Stowe seeded the article in this relatively obscure magazine so that he could then publish it in that much more influential magazine.

The sources for the article would seem to have been conversations with Akira Yoshizawa, his mentor Tadasu Iizawa and Lillian Oppenheimer.

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The initial illustrations show:

The origin of the Pegasus is not stated. It is presumably by Yoshizawa.

Dove, Nun,and Self-Portrait by Akira Yoshizawa.

Whistler's Mother by Fred Rohm.

Giraffe by George Rhoads.

There is also a smaller photo showing various other Yoshizawa designs (including what seems to be a version of Honda's Peacock).

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The content of the article can be broken down into the following main sections:

Description of a visit to Yoshizawa's home and of watching him fold

Some basic historical notes on the origin of origami

Biographical detail about Yoshizawa and his relationship with Tadasu Iizawa

The creation of Yoshizawa's Cicada (not illustrated)

Information about Lillian Oppenheimer and The Origami Center also mentioning Rosalie Evnine, Robert Harbin and Fred Rohm.

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The article contains some obvious errors:

Yoshizawa was not the first to produce a four-legged animal (even from a single sheet).

The author seems unaware of the Western influence on Japanese paperfolding through the introduction of kindergarten education

Robert Harbin's TV series 'Mr Left and Mr Right' was first broadcast in 1955. It was therefore not 'somewhat later' than the foundation of The Origami Center in 1959.

It was Frieda Lourie rather than Lillian Oppenheimer who introduced origami as a therapy at Bellevue Hospital.

Origami was not 'virtually unknown in the USA' when Lillian Oppenheimer founded The Origami Center.

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