In 1951, Isamu Noguchi visited Gifu, Japan—a region renowned for centuries of lantern-making with washi paper and bamboo. The word 'akari' means both light and lightness, a duality embodied in each piece.

Still handmade in Gifu using traditional methods that take years to master, paper stretched over bamboo ribs creates forms that seem to float. The warm glow they cast feels like captured daylight rather than electric light.