The Kaleidoscope Charmer: Koji Yamami
It’s like finding a mesmerizing universe of dazzling colors and infinite geometric patterns captivated inside a small cylinder. As a child, I remember pressing it tight to my eye, and turning it again and again. I was so fascinated. It is an old familiar toy to many, but some say it has a mystic healing power, and most recently, even some medical institutions are employing its magical effects. One of Japan’s leading kaleidoscope creators, Koji Yamami guided us through his interesting story.
Tell us a little about your background?
I always liked painting and crafting. After finishing high school, I studied the stained glass craft at an art school, and then went to California to attend an art college. One day, in a gallery I found a fine object that looked like a telescope, but it was, in fact, a kaleidoscope. I had seen toy kaleidoscopes before, but never had I seen such an elaborate and aesthetic one, both outside and inside. It left a deep impression on me.
Back in Japan, I took a job at a stained glass atelier, and often brought some leftover glass materials back home and made objects out of it. It happened that a kaleidoscope I made won a prize in a contest, and I became more interested in making kaleidoscopes from that time on.
I left the atelier when I was thirty-three, and launched a shop in Denen Chofu, Tokyo, to sell my works. After a while, my kaleidoscopes became popular thanks to media coverage, and eventually it became important part of my life.
What are your major achievements?
I have won the Best Work Award four times at the annual kaleidoscope world tournament held in the USA, in which I participate every year.
You have presented one of your work to His Majesty the Emperor.
I once worked in collaboration with a ceramic artist, Teruko Tsuji. We made a kaleidoscope together; she took care of the exterior and I did the inside. Since Tsuji-san was acquainted with Her Majesty Empress Michiko, we presented it to Their Majesties. Later on, we also presented other ones to His Imperial Highness Prince Akishino, and to His Highness Prince Takamado who, I heard, was fond of kaleidoscopes since his childhood.
What is the basic structure of a kaleidoscope?
First, we make a triangular prism, by using two or more mirrored pieces. Then we put small objects in it, and their reflections on the mirror create an image. The shape and angle of the mirrors affect the image it makes. The materials for objects should be something transparent, glass for instance. I like using glass for the outer side too, but that could be metal or wood etc.
They say it has a healing effect?
That’s right. People had forgotten about Kaleidoscope for a long time, but in the 1980s, Cozy Baker in the US, who had lost her son in a car accident, found a great consolation in kaleidoscopes. Thanks to her, it was revived as a new art form in the US.
Recently, healing effect of the kaleidoscopes has been recognized even in the medical field; some hospitals in the US use them in the waiting room to calm children before treatment. Some nursery homes use kaleidoscopes for prevention of dementia. According to the research we conducted for the kaleidoscope DVD book I published last year, dozens of subjects’ electroencephalograms showed that by just watching the video of the kaleidoscope for 2 minutes, their stress value decreased 21% on average.
A dentist friend of mine has a kaleidoscope in his waiting room. I also have a lot of customers who want to have kaleidoscopes in the waiting room of their medical institutions.
Why do you think have this healing power?
Even when you have had bad days, while you are looking into the kaleidoscope, you can forget everything.
Could it be something close to meditating in the sense that you focus your mind on it and abandoning worldly thoughts?
Probably so. At any rate, they both bring peace and calm to you.
In what circumstances do you feel most the power of kaleidoscope?
I hold kaleidoscope workshops regularly, and participants who are not sure if they can make it, when they complete it, they always have a big smile on their face. Even a grumpy old man at a nursing home who they said never smiled, when he completed a kaleidoscope and looked inside, I detected a brief flash of smile. When I see something like that, I say the power of the kaleidoscope is amazing after all.
Where do you want to go from here in the world of kaleidoscope?
I think people should be more aware of this wonderful world of Kaleidoscope. It would be nice if each and every family has got one of its own.There are still a lot of possibilities unexplored in various aspects. The structure of mirrors for one. You will never know beforehand what kind of image it will produce. It is an infinite world with no end point. That is what makes kaleidoscopes interesting and endlessly intriguing.
Also, since the number of patterns the objects make in one kaleidoscope is almost infinite, each one you encounter is a once in a lifetime experience for you. Or mathematically, once in hundreds of millions of years.
To learn more about Koji Yamami, click here
Photo by Yosuke Suzuki（Erz）
Text by Akihiro Tajima
If you liked this story, check out more in our Urban Transplants issue.
