The Akari Lamp: The Story of Noguchi's Paper Lanterns

A paper sphere hanging above a table, a cylinder resting on three metal legs: Akari lamps are among those objects everyone has already seen without being able to name them. Behind these paper lanterns lies a very precise story — that of a sculptor, a struggling Japanese town, and a commission placed in 1951.

This article extends our guide to the Japanese lamp and our wabi-sabi aesthetic reference.

1951, Gifu: the commission that started it all

Isamu Noguchi was an American-Japanese sculptor, already well established, when he visited Gifu in 1951. This town in central Japan had lived for centuries on making chōchin, the traditional paper lanterns used in particular by the cormorant fishermen of the Nagara River. The industry was in decline.

The town's mayor asked him to imagine something that might revive the work of the local craftsmen. Noguchi did not draw a decorative object: he conceived a series of light sculptures, made with the technique and materials of the traditional lantern, but in entirely new shapes.

He devoted more than thirty years to them and created over a hundred models, numbered rather than named. Production has never left Gifu.

What "Akari" means

In Japanese, akari means "light", in the sense of brightness. But the word also carries the idea of lightness, of weightlessness. It is precisely for that double reading that Noguchi chose it.

The object proves him right. An Akari weighs almost nothing, folds flat like an accordion, and once lit it no longer shows its structure: you see only the light, as if suspended in mid-air. Noguchi said he wanted a light that was neither an object nor a machine, but a presence.

How it is made

The making has not changed since the fishermen's lanterns. It rests on three elements and a great deal of handwork.

Element	Role	Effect on the light
Washi paper	The skin, made from mulberry bark	Diffuses without glare, warms the colour
Bamboo ribbing	The flexible skeleton giving the shape	Draws horizontal lines when the lamp is lit
Metal frame	Holds it open and carries the socket	Invisible once assembled

The paper is applied strip by strip onto a wooden mould, around bamboo wound in a spiral. Once dry, the mould is dismantled from the inside. That process is what allows the lamp to fold flat, and it also explains how fragile the object is.

Why this light is different

An Akari resembles no other light fitting, and the reason is physical. Washi paper is not opaque: it transmits light rather than bouncing it back. The whole surface becomes the light source, instead of a single point.

Three concrete consequences:

No glare. You can look straight at a lit Akari, which is impossible with an open shade. That is what makes it comfortable in a low room or in a corner where you sit down.

No hard shadows. Light arrives from everywhere at once, so objects around it cast no sharp shadow. The result feels soft, rather like an overcast sky.

A naturally warm tone. The paper absorbs part of the blue and lets the warm tones through. Even with a neutral bulb, the light comes out softened.

The trade-off is that an Akari delivers little light per square metre. It is an ambient lamp, never a task lamp: always plan another source for reading. Our guide to how many lumens per room helps balance the whole.

Telling an Akari from an Akari-inspired lamp

Genuine Akari are among the most copied design objects in the world, and Noguchi complained about it in his lifetime. Here is what really separates the two families — bearing in mind that an inspired lamp can be excellent, as long as it does not pass itself off as the original.

	Original Akari	Akari-inspired lamp
Making	Gifu, by hand	Industrial
Material	Washi and bamboo	Rice paper, fabric or synthetic
Structure	Folds flat	Usually rigid
Marking	Stamped sun and moon	None
Repair	Beyond saving once torn	Varies, often sturdier
Budget	High	Accessible

The real deciding factor is not authenticity but use. A collector's piece in a child's bedroom is a bad idea; an inspired lamp, sturdy and replaceable, belongs there perfectly.

Where to put it at home

On the floor, in a corner. This is the truest use and the least common one. A lantern set directly on the floor lights the walls from below and visually enlarges the room.

On a coffee table or console, at seated height. The light then sits within your field of view without bothering you, which no opaque shade allows.

Hung above a table, fairly low. A paper sphere can be installed lower than a conventional shade, precisely because it does not dazzle.

Two mistakes to avoid: placing it in full daylight, where the paper loses all its point, and putting it near a walkway. These lamps forgive no knocks. On that subject, our reference on natural materials and light sets out the precautions.

Our lamps in this spirit

Three models that take up the diffusing-lantern principle, in rice paper or a textile skin, at accessible prices.

Frequently asked questions about Akari lamps

What is an Akari lamp?

A series of light sculptures in washi paper and bamboo, created by the sculptor Isamu Noguchi from 1951 onwards in Gifu, Japan, and produced there ever since.

What does the word Akari mean?

"Light" in Japanese, carrying at the same time the idea of lightness and weightlessness. Noguchi chose the word for that double reading.

What are Akari lamps made of?

Washi paper, made from mulberry bark, stretched over bamboo ribbing wound in a spiral, with an inner metal frame.

Does an Akari lamp give enough light?

Not on its own. The paper diffuses light instead of concentrating it: it is ambient lighting, to be topped up with a dedicated reading lamp.

Can you clean a rice paper lamp?

Dry only, with a feather duster or a soft brush, with the lamp off and cold. No water, no damp cloth, no product: the paper cockles permanently.

Akari, in short

Born of a municipal commission in 1951, Isamu Noguchi's Akari turned a fisherman's lantern into a universal design object. Their appeal comes down to one thing: washi paper turns the whole surface into a light source, with no glare and no hard shadow. To explore the wider family, our guide to the Japanese lamp runs through the styles and their uses.