DID YOU KNOW?
By Mario G. Reyes
Saturday, May 9, 2009

Land of the Rising Stone

Photos by MARIO G. REYES/Rafu Shimpo
A lone woman finds a quite place beside the art piece Stonerise by famed artist Seiji Kunishima made from huge granite stones. Stonerise sits at 120 S. South Pedro Street.

Seiji Kunishima (1937 - ), born in Nagoya, Japan has gained recognition over the past 40 years for his large formal works created from monumental stones surrounded by open air. His sculptures serve as abstractions of nature.

His Little Tokyo piece, “Stonerise,” came about in 1984 as a commission mandated by the Com­munity Redevelopment Agency as an art requirement that went along with the construction of the California First Bank (now Union Bank).

Toshikazu Terasawa, FAIA, the building’s Nisei architect, suggested the sculpture be placed either in front of the entrance or in the quiet and partially secluded courtyard over the portal of the adjacent parking garage.

Made from African granite slabs and black Indian granite stones, Stonerise sits at 120 S. Pedro Street.

Currently Kunishima has studios in both Nagoya and Los Angeles.