was a Japanese

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Early career

Yoshimura dated his desire to become an architect to the day he first entered

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

's Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, shortly after the

Kanto earthquake Kantō (Japanese) Kanto is a simplified spelling of , a Japanese word, only omitting the diacritics. In Japan Kantō may refer to: *Kantō Plain *Kantō region *Kantō-kai, organized crime group *Kanto (Pokémon), a geographical region in the ' ...

of 1923. "“It was the first time that I felt emotional when faced with architecture. I said to my myself, this really shows the power of space. I felt that architecture was something extraordinary. It’s certainly the main reason I became an architect.” In December 1928, while a student at Tokyo's Fine Arts College, Yoshimura began part-time work at

Antonin Raymond Antonin Raymond (or cs, Antonín Raymond), born as Antonín Reimann (10 May 1888 – 25 October 1976)"Deaths Elsewhere", ''Miami Herald'', 30 October 1976, p. 10 was a Czech American architect. Raymond was born and studied in Bohemia (now part ...

's office, becoming full-time after he graduated in 1931. Among other work, he performed on-site supervision for the Akaboshi Cottage (1931) for Japanese golfer Shiro Akaboshi, a house for Kisuke Akaboshi (1932) and the Kawasaki House (1934). In May 1940 he travelled to Antonin's home in New Hope, Pennsylvania, spending fourteen months living and working in the studio there. He oversaw the installation of a small tea house at the Japan Institute in New York City.

Later career

On his return to Tokyo in 1941 he set up his own practice. In 1953, because of his connections with Raymond, Yoshimura secured the project to design a traditional Japanese Tea House in the garden of the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

in New York. This house, named Shofuso, or Pine Breeze Villa, was moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1957, where it remains as a historic site open to the public as

Shofuso Japanese House and Garden Shofuso (Pine Breeze Villa), ( ja, 松風荘) also known as Japanese House and Garden, is a traditional 17th century-style Japanese house and garden located in Philadelphia's West Fairmount Park on the site of the Centennial Exposition of 1876. ...

. In 1955 he collaborated with Kunio Maekawa and

Junzo Sakakura was a Japanese architect and former president of the Architectural Association of Japan. After graduating from university he worked in Le Corbusier's atelier in Paris. He rose to the position of studio chief during his seven-year stay in the st ...

to design the International House of Japan in Roppongi, Tokyo. This cultural exchange complex is located within estates owned by samurai lords in the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...

. It is constructed in-situ thin-set reinforced concrete walls, pre-cast concrete columns and beams and Oya Stone. Yoshimura's later works include the Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art (1959) in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

Tokyo Imperial Palace The is the main residence of the Emperor of Japan. It is a large park-like area located in the Chiyoda district of the Chiyoda ward of Tokyo and contains several buildings including the where the Emperor has his living quarters, the where va ...

(1968), Japan House (with George G. Shimamoto of Kelly & Gruzen, 1969–71) in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, the East and West Wings of the

Nara National Museum The is one of the pre-eminent national art museums in Japan. Introduction The Nara National Museum is located in Nara, which was the capital of Japan from 710 to 784. Katayama Tōkuma (1854–1917) designed the original building, which is a r ...

(1972) and the Royal Norwegian Embassy (1977) in Tokyo. With his colleagues, he won the Prize of the

Architectural Institute of Japan The Architectural Institute of Japan, or AIJ, is a Japanese professional body for architects, building engineers, and researchers in architecture. The institute was founded in 1886 as an institute for architects. It was renamed the Architectural ...

for Specific Contribution for the International House of Japan.日本建築学会各賞受賞者・受賞業績検索
（姓：吉村；名：吉村） Retrieved April 24, 2008

Footnotes

References

* * * Spring 2005, "Do_co,mo.mo Japan: the 100 selection", ''The Japan Architect'', No57 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yoshimura, Junzo 1908 births 1997 deaths Artists from Tokyo 20th-century Japanese architects