Yoshizawa was born on 14 March 1911, in
Kaminokawa, Japan, to the family of a dairy farmer. When he was a child, he took pleasure in teaching himself origami. He moved into a factory job in
Tokyo when he was 13 years old. His passion for origami was rekindled in his early 20s, when he was promoted from factory worker to technical draftsman. His new job was to teach junior employees geometry. Yoshizawa used the traditional art of origami to understand and communicate geometrical problems. His origami work was creative enough to be included in the 1944 book
Origami Shuko, by . However, it was his work for the January 1952 issue of the magazine
Asahi Graph that launched his career, which included the 12 zodiac signs commissioned by a magazine.), which has become the standard for most paperfolders. The publishing of this book helped Yoshizawa out of his poverty. It was followed closely by his founding of the International Origami Centre in Tokyo in 1954, when he was 43. but rather gave them away as gifts to people, and let other groups and organizations borrow them for exhibiting. His second wife, Kiyo Yoshizawa, served as his manager and taught origami to the other patients where he was hospitalized until his death. == Technique ==