Jave Yoshimoto
Jave Yoshimoto is an individual accustomed to travel, and would describe himself as a 'sponge,' always ready to soak up new experiences and cultures. Jave grew up in Japan as the son of two Chinese parents and moved to the United States when he was nine. While his house may currently be in Omaha, his varied upbringing leaves him thinking of 'home' as wherever he is in that moment; whether that be with his axe friends in Denver, at an art exhibition, or at his place in Omaha.
Jave had aspirations of becoming an artist at a young age, but such notions were discouraged by his family, with whom he had a complicated relationship. Jave grew up with a single mother and lived with his grandfather for a while after a disagreement about his career aspirations caused him to leave home and drop out of school. He did; however, return to school, eventually graduating and moving on to get two Masters degrees in Art and Art Therapy, using both to teach future artists in Omaha.
Jave's journey into his other passion- axe throwing- started slightly before moving to Omaha where he found the folks at Craft Axe which quickly became a safe space during a tough time in his life. Axe throwing, particularly the relationships formed within it with fellow league members and venue owners at both Craft and Ironside, helped get him through a tough time in his life following the split with his wife. While he was just average at first, the community he found was far more appealing than the competition, which allowed him to push past his normal perfectionism- a trait which allows him to focus on minute details but also often causes him to quit early if he doesn't see immediate success.
As someone who had always been accustomed to travel, doing so quite frequently for art shows, exhibitions, and speaking engagements within the art community. On these trips, he frequently would try to visit local axe venues, although his focus now has shifted to traveling primarily for axe tournaments and events while visiting local art galleries or exhibitions. He currently loves visiting venues and areas with top thrower competition, and you may have seen some of his venue highlights from these travels. Denver is one of his favorite spots at present, but he really hopes to get out to some of the axe 'hubs' like Wisconsin, Ohio, and Texas in the next year or so.
In the last several years, Jave has managed to combine his two passions by bringinging his creative side into the making and designing of unique and beautiful axe pieces. This journey started after seeing a custom axe that John Bradley had built at the first Angrywood, and has now lead him into designing the trophy axes at the World Championships. He started by just painting, creating Madalorian, Calvin and Hobbes, and Godzilla (a childhood - and adulthood- favorite, stemming from his days of watching cartoons in Japan while his mother was at work) axes. He later learned about acid etching and spent time with Dustin Wellman and Ryan Chilson learning about handle design and creation.
Unlike many other makers, Jave's pieces are made more as art pieces than as practical throwers; aligning with his background in fine art. His personal axes are obviously created more for throwing, but he has created several just for the art of it, pieces which can be included in his extensive and impressive art portfolio such as the Art Deco axe for which he won the first craftsman award. In addition to these axes, the rest of Jave's portfolio includes some truly amazing pieces (pictured), such as banjo installations, self portraits of himself as godzilla, and, his most impressive breakout piece: a thirty foot long scroll painting of the Japanese Tsunami.
When not making his own pieces, Jave enjoys getting lost in the energy of other artists' pieces, noting some of his favorites as 'Night Hawks' and 'Starry Night.' He also enjoys cooking, cats (though he currently does not have any of his own), cultural experiences, and learning about and meeting new people- so go say hello the next time you see him!
