Yoshimura Junzo was born in Tokyo in 1908, in a time when the US and Japan were exchanging extensive cross-cultural discourse. At just 15 years old, Junzo visited the newly constructed addition to the Tokyo Imperial Hotel, designed by prolific American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. He would later recall that visit is “certainly the main reason I became an architect.”

While studying architecture at the Tokyo Arts College, Junzo tracked down another internationally renowned architect practicing in Japan, Antonin Raymond. He interned at their office until his graduation in 1931, after which he joined the team as a full-time architect. 

Raymond invited Yoshimura and some of his other colleagues to join him at their office in New Hope, PA, just an hour away from where you stand now. With Yoshimura came another burgeoning designer, legendary carpenter George Nakashima. George and Junzo became quite close, and in his memoir, he lauded Junzo for instilling in him an  appreciation for “the beauty of proper materials in building, the delicacy of unfinished wood.” The Nakashima Foundation, which still produces George’s elegant furniture, and Raymond Farm still stand in New Hope and are open for tours.