Originally an imperial kimono designer, he has become the foremost “green” artist in Japan and a great supporter of cross-cultural exchanges.

Jiro Inagaki was born in 1933 in Kanagawa, Japan. He studied at Musasino Art University and initially he focused on the design of kimonos and became a designer for kimonos for the Japanese Imperial family. In Japan, this form of art is valued highly. He had made also a special study of Modern Western Art. Although he had established himself as a kimono designer, he followed a path to explore his creativity in freestyle using different materials.

At the age of 38, he started dedicating himself to this particular art material, Japanese paper. From the age of 43, he exclusively focused on paper art in Hasami near Nagasaki. Jiro based his artistic motivation on the manual production of paper. Around his residence on the island of Kyushu are still dozens of art studios where paper is made in the age-old Japanese tradition. In his bond with nature, he based his production methods on a thorough study on principles of organic material compatibility to abide by his purist belief.

The compositions are conceptional and originate always from wet layers of paper pulp. Jiro rigorous process involved multiple layers of wet paper pulp assembled with selected materials, varying from rope to wood, zinc, copper, leaves, etc. This material would form the “drawing”, which he might finish again with a thin cover layer of pulp, resulting in subtle more or less inverted relief images of paper.

Jiro Inagaki artworks are on exhibit in several Japanese museums. In Europe, he exhibited in Hamburg, Stockholm and the Netherlands. In the early 1980’s, the Netherlands has become his second home. He established a connection with accomplished artists in the Netherlands leading to an intercultural exchange of artists, culture, and art in general. He has worked in his studio in Hilversum, in the Netherlands where established bond with fellow artists till the end of his life. His legacy is left in the heart of his beloved friends beyond cultures.

After his death in 2008, Jiro Arts Foundation was set up in Amsterdam and his works were kept by the foundation. Following Jiro’s wish, with the proceeds of the sales of his art, the foundation create a platform for cultural exchange between Japanese and European artists and share Jiro's legacy and free form of creating art connecting the mother earth.

Please visit the exhibition catalogue "the Seasons" (2016, Amsterdam) to see his works accompanied with Haiku, Japanese poems.