Sakura Kokumai Art Print
<Art Work by Akemi Tsutsui-Kunitake>
When I first sat down with Sakura to plan this art piece, we spoke about highlighting her achievements as an athlete while celebrating her roots. Her childhood in Hawaii (represented by the yellow hibiscus, Hawaii’s state flower), upbringing in a sailing family, and experience as a koto instrumentalist are all connected in this piece. The paper airplanes are a nod to all of Sakura's traveling for training and competition. Additionally, some folks associate paper airplanes with wishes or aiming high. Growing up in a karate family and from my experience as a kata athlete myself, I can speak to Sakura’s achievements as being in the realm of what many of us in the karate world considered an impossible dream. Karate in the Olympics has been a long, long road and it wasn't till the mid-1970s when women were even allowed to compete in the sport on the international level. We chose to include the opening movement from Chatanyara Kushanku for this exact reason. Not only does it acknowledge Sakura's connection to her senseis, Yoshimi Inoue and Rika Usami, but it symbolizes the dawn of a new day - the sun breaking through the clouds and a bright future for karate-ka, female athletes and anyone with a dream. All the linework was executed in my traditional style of fude brush inking on watercolor paper, but the color was applied digitally using a sakura (cherry blossom) patterned washi paper as the base.
<Art Work by Akemi Tsutsui-Kunitake>
When I first sat down with Sakura to plan this art piece, we spoke about highlighting her achievements as an athlete while celebrating her roots. Her childhood in Hawaii (represented by the yellow hibiscus, Hawaii’s state flower), upbringing in a sailing family, and experience as a koto instrumentalist are all connected in this piece. The paper airplanes are a nod to all of Sakura's traveling for training and competition. Additionally, some folks associate paper airplanes with wishes or aiming high. Growing up in a karate family and from my experience as a kata athlete myself, I can speak to Sakura’s achievements as being in the realm of what many of us in the karate world considered an impossible dream. Karate in the Olympics has been a long, long road and it wasn't till the mid-1970s when women were even allowed to compete in the sport on the international level. We chose to include the opening movement from Chatanyara Kushanku for this exact reason. Not only does it acknowledge Sakura's connection to her senseis, Yoshimi Inoue and Rika Usami, but it symbolizes the dawn of a new day - the sun breaking through the clouds and a bright future for karate-ka, female athletes and anyone with a dream. All the linework was executed in my traditional style of fude brush inking on watercolor paper, but the color was applied digitally using a sakura (cherry blossom) patterned washi paper as the base.
<Art Work by Akemi Tsutsui-Kunitake>
When I first sat down with Sakura to plan this art piece, we spoke about highlighting her achievements as an athlete while celebrating her roots. Her childhood in Hawaii (represented by the yellow hibiscus, Hawaii’s state flower), upbringing in a sailing family, and experience as a koto instrumentalist are all connected in this piece. The paper airplanes are a nod to all of Sakura's traveling for training and competition. Additionally, some folks associate paper airplanes with wishes or aiming high. Growing up in a karate family and from my experience as a kata athlete myself, I can speak to Sakura’s achievements as being in the realm of what many of us in the karate world considered an impossible dream. Karate in the Olympics has been a long, long road and it wasn't till the mid-1970s when women were even allowed to compete in the sport on the international level. We chose to include the opening movement from Chatanyara Kushanku for this exact reason. Not only does it acknowledge Sakura's connection to her senseis, Yoshimi Inoue and Rika Usami, but it symbolizes the dawn of a new day - the sun breaking through the clouds and a bright future for karate-ka, female athletes and anyone with a dream. All the linework was executed in my traditional style of fude brush inking on watercolor paper, but the color was applied digitally using a sakura (cherry blossom) patterned washi paper as the base.
Size <24×18>