Jun MITANI

Mitani is a professor of Information and Systems at University of Tsukuba. He received his Ph.D. in engineering from the University of Tokyo in 2004. He has been present post since April 2015. His research interests center on computer graphics, in particular geometric modeling techniques and their application to origami design.

The origami artworks created by him have features that are three-dimensional shapes with smooth curved surfaces. His main books are "3D Origami Art" and "Curved Origami Design". In 2010, through an exchange with ISSEY MIYAKE, he contributed to the launch of the new 132.5 fashion brand. He also cooperated in the design of origami used in the movies "Shin Godzilla (2016)" and "Death Note Light up the NEW world (2016)". His unique origami has been well received around the world and he had received invitations to hold workshops and exhibitions in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Israel and many other countries. His work had inspired the design of the trophy for the Player of the Match winner of each game at the Rugby World Cup 2019.

His major awards are "Microsoft Research Japan Informatics Research Award, 2012" and "The 2nd Japan Society for Graphic Science Award, 2007". He was appointed as a Japan Cultural Envoy from the Agency for Cultural Affairs in 2019. He visited eight Asian countries in November and December 2019 as the envoy.