Animals that seem to speak through kind eyes and humorous expressions are crafted by Miho Akiyama, an artist who brings animals to life in 3D form using paper. Her free-flowing, imaginative and richly colored work has a charm that immediately soothes and relaxes. As an educator, Akiyama also engages in activities that convey paper’s appeal to people of all ages in an easy and accessible way. We visited Akiyama in her studio in Hyogo Prefecture to hear her thoughts on the essence of paper as a material in both art and education.
Miho Akiyama Paper artist
Born in 1982 in Yamanashi Prefecture, Akiyama graduated from the Graduate School of Arts and Culture at Osaka Kyoiku University. While at university, she began creating three-dimensional sculptures featuring paper animal motifs. In addition to solo exhibitions at fine art museums and arts and crafts museums, she collaborates with high-end international brands on display goods, works in illustration, conducts workshops, and much more.
She is a part-time lecturer (Art Studies) at Hyogo Medical University.
In mid-June, with rainy season and its continuously gray and gloomy skies covering all of Japan, our editorial staff visited Miho Akiyama in Nishinomiya City in Hyogo Prefecture. Entering her home studio in a quiet residential neighborhood, we were greeted by an array of paper art depicting and array of different animals — from dogs, cats and other pets, to large wild animals and even tiny insects like butterflies and stag beetles.
“They originally were a bit crisper,” Akiyama says, “but now that it’s rainy season, they aren’t as cheerful. The paper absorbs moisture and warps, and the color is changed by the sun. It’s a particular trait of artwork made of paper.”
The charm of her work lies in the expressiveness of her animals, with their personalities, life-like warmth, and clear eyes looking straight ahead or seeming to be in a dream.
Akiyama spent most of her childhood in Matsuyama City in Ehime Prefecture, surrounded by lush nature. She lived just a three-minute walk from the zoo, which she frequently visited to observe the animals.
“At the time, I would catch crayfish and other animals in the moat at Dogo Park and draw what I observed in a picture journal [laughs]. The praise I got for that from my parents and teachers led me to the work I do now,” she explains.
Akiyama, who grew up exposed to animals daily, went on to major in arts and culture at an education university. While there, she made art highlighting both universality and innovation and began creating animals in paper art, bringing together two of her favorite things, animals and paper.
She uses paper in different colors and textures to convey the look and feel of the animals’ fur and skin. She says she chose paper as her medium because, “it’s a material that’s easy to get and something that everyone is familiar with.”
“When I was asked by an aquarium to make a shark, I started by looking for the right kind of paper with which to create it, choosing paper with the texture and sheen of shark skin. But you have to actually feel the paper to really know, so a lot of what I buy ends up in my personal collection [laughs].”
One paper that has been a favorite of hers for many years is Mi-Teintes construction paper produced by the French company Canson. With its uniform honeycomb grain and bumpy texture, Mi-Teintes is widely used for pastel drawing in Japan.
“I have always loved the paper’s beautiful neutral colors, and I use it for many of the pieces in my books. When I published my books, I wanted to encourage readers to make the pieces inside again and again. So I consulted with the person in charge at the importer, and we decided to include an assorted Mi-Teintes set with one sheet of each of the colors used in the works featured in the books. The publisher also released a craft kit using Mi-Teintes so that readers are able to easily make the pieces in the books.”
In addition to her creative work as a paper artist, Akiyama also works to convey the joy of creating things with paper and give people easy access to art, offering lectures at universities and crafting workshops at culture schools and elsewhere. As part of these activities, she lectures in art studies at Hyogo Medical University.
“Even in a field like medicine that is seemingly unrelated, paper actually plays an important role. Occupational therapists use origami in hand and finger therapy, and nurses find simple crafts to be a very effective tool in communicating with pediatric patients. But quite a few of the university students taking my class have little to no experience with crafts. Before interacting with patients in the hospital, they need to first become familiar with paper and practice crafting. I think it is very important for students who are going to pursue a career in medicine to have experience in creating the forms they imagine using simple actions like folding, cutting, and pasting paper.”
Akiyama also leads general workshops for people of all ages. In her workshops for young children and elementary school students in particular, she focuses on allowing each child to create what they want based on their own ideas, rather than predetermining a specific goal for the finished piece.
“I bring in age-appropriate materials and give everyone the same talk on how to make basic shapes. But I also work with each student to come up with a way to create the particular shape they want to create. The important thing is that they are able to use the colors they want and create a form they like. I don’t want them feeling that what they made fell short of what they imagined and for that to become an obstacle to enjoying crafting in the future. I want to help the children learn to trust in their own sense of expression and in their capabilities.” Akiyama also says that paper as a material plays a role in a child’s emotional development during the years of early education.
“Not only do they express themselves through drawing and making crafts, they also use paper to vent their emotions by scribbling with crayons or shredding newspaper. I think there must be many more ways to use paper and many more benefits to be gained from it in education.”
Akiyama’s work is on permanent display at the Fujikawa Papercutting Forest Museum at Yamanashi Fujikawa Craft Park, where visitors can experience her pieces in person. Thanks to her popular solo exhibitions and other activities, interest in her artwork is growing.
“A large number of adults come to my solo exhibitions, and many of them leave telling me, ‘I’m going to try paper art myself.’ I think this is another unique aspect of paper as a medium. Everyone uses paper all the time and can easily get hold of it. Even if it’s just something simple, I hope adults, too, will feel free to try making paper art,” says Akiyama.
Asked to leave our readers a final message, she says,” I have great respect for living animals, and no matter how elaborate my pieces may be, they can never surpass the real thing. Which is why I try to capture in my work the essence of a particular animal. Beyond that, it makes me happy if people who see my art sense the kind of pliability and vitality that you feel when you touch or hold a living animal.”
Imparting an immediate feeling of relaxed pleasure, Akiyama’s work evokes a deep respect for animals and a curiosity about the intrinsic value that paper as a medium offers.
◯△□ de Tsukuru Kamikosaku
Ikimono, Kusabana, Norimono, Tatemono
(“Paper Crafts From ◯△□Living Creatures, Plants, Vehicles and Buildings”)
(2024, Kodansha Ltd.)
Kantan! Tanoshii!
Dobutsu to Konchu no Rittai Kirigami Kosaku
(“Simple! Fun! Animal and Insect 3D Paper Crafts”)
(2023, Kodansha Ltd.)
