Will Ruth Asawa’s fountains flow again?

Ruth Asawa with her origami fountains flowing in Japantown in 1982.

By FRAN MORELAND JOHNS

Interest in beloved artist Ruth Asawa’s work has been rekindled in recent weeks by the retrospective of her work now on view at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Along with the exhibition comes a yearning for the gentle waters shut off more than a decade ago to flow again on her Origami Fountains along Osaka Way in Japantown.

Hopes rose with the start of the ongoing reconstruction and renovation of the Peace Plaza across Post Street, toward which Asawa’s cobblestone river design points as it descends Osaka Way. Those hopes appear unlikely to be realized anytime soon.

The Peace Plaza renovation is a separate project from the Osaka Way renovation, so different departments, agencies and city leaders are involved. Updates posted around the Peace Plaza and on city websites vary.

“Restoring both of Asawa’s Origami Fountains to working order has been a top priority of the project from the very beginning,” says Asawa’s grandson Henry Weverka, president of Ruth Asawa Lanier Inc. “The city plans to invest in a very robust pump and filtration system to avoid issues faced in the past.”

But restoration, Weverka says, is no simple task.

“This includes consulting with experienced fountain technicians,” he says, “who have worked on similar and much more complex water features at major museums and other institutions to design a system that features backup pumps and additional safeguards, and requires less maintenance.”

Asawa’s origami fountains — designed to resemble flowers of folded paper — were installed when a block of Buchanan Street in Japantown was transformed into a public space in 1975 and 1976. The original corten steel fountains became corroded and were removed following a long drought. But public outcry brought back bronze replicas, cast under Asawa’s supervision, in 1999. They were designated as part of the city’s art collection by the Arts Commission. Buchanan mall was renamed Osaka Way in 2007, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the sister city relationship between San Francisco and Osaka, Japan.

An official with the Japantown Merchants Association said his group is “optimistic the fountains will be operating by the next Cherry Blossom Festival,” but that’s not likely.

According to project manager Trent Tieger of the city’s Public Works Department, construction is set to begin in early 2026 and last through summer or fall of 2027. “We’ll have a better idea on the timeline,” Tieger says, “once we have our construction contract awarded, as that process can be quite lengthy.”

However lengthy the process, community residents and businesses will celebrate when the fountains come back to life. So will Asawa’s family. “Our family stands behind the project team,” says Weberka, “and feels very strongly that these renovations are necessary for the long-term benefit of Asawa’s work and legacy as well as the Japantown community.”

For many Asawa fans, the years of non-functioning fountains seem long and the wait for repair interminable. But Ruth Asawa, an artist increasingly revered at home and abroad, learned patience in the internment camps of World War II and through years of sharing her gifts with children.