Japanese Noguchi and Akari Lamps: What the Numbers Mean

The 23N is 33 inches across. The 26A is 17.5. The bigger number belongs to the smaller lamp — and that single fact explains most of the mistakes people make when they buy an Akari.

If you have been searching for Japanese Noguchi and Akari lamps, you have probably noticed the names look like measurements. They are not. This is a map of what the codes actually mean, what each model measures, and which one fits the room you have.

The numbers are design codes, not measurements

Isamu Noguchi began the Akari series in 1951. The codes were assigned in the order the designs were created — a catalogue sequence, not a size scale. Four decades of additions later, the sequence and the physical size have almost nothing to do with each other.

Three comparisons make it obvious:

Across the full catalogue, roughly one in five model pairs inverts — the lower code is physically larger. So the only reliable way to buy is to read the dimensions, never the number.

Four words you will meet, and what each one actually means

Half the confusion in this category comes from people using four different words as if they were interchangeable.

"Rice paper lamp" is the phrase most English speakers search, and it is the one that sends people to the wrong product. Washi is mulberry, not rice. If a listing calls it rice paper and cannot tell you the fibre, that is worth noticing.

Every model, sorted by real size

Sorted by diameter, smallest to largest — the order the catalogue codes refuse to give you. Prices are entry prices for that model; the craft level you choose moves them.

Dimensions are shade width × shade height. For pendants, add the drop from ceiling to the bottom of the shade. Models marked "multi" ship in more than one diameter under the same code.

Choosing by ceiling height, not by model number

This is the part that actually decides the purchase. Work from the room inward:

Standard ceiling, 8–9 ft (2.4–2.7 m)

Keep the shade at 26 in (66 cm) or under, and leave at least 30 in (76 cm) of clear air between the bottom of the shade and the table or floor below. The flat saucers suit this best: the 26A (17.5 in / 44.5 cm, 9.8 in / 24.8 cm deep) and the 21A (25.3 in / 64 cm, 10.8 in / 27.3 cm deep) both hang shallow, so they do not eat the sightline across a room.

Over a dining table

Hang the bottom of the shade 30–36 in (76–91 cm) above the tabletop. Diameter should be roughly half to two-thirds the table's width, and never wider than the table's narrowest edge — otherwise guests lean into it.

Ceilings above 10 ft (3 m), or a double-height void

Below 30 in (76 cm) of shade diameter, a lamp reads as a detail rather than a fixture at that height. Go to 31.5 in (80 cm) and up. The 75A–120A range covers 29.5 to 47.2 in (75–120 cm); at a 20 ft ceiling the 120 cm sphere is the first size that holds its own.

Floor lamps in a corner or behind a sofa

The shade height matters more than the diameter here. Anything under 47 in (119 cm) total height disappears behind a sofa back. The 10A (21 in / 53 cm wide, 48 in / 123 cm tall) and the 11A (15.7 in / 40 cm wide, 58 in / 147 cm tall) are both built to clear a sofa arm.

Bedside and shelves

Under 12 in (30 cm) diameter. The 1A (10 in / 26 cm) and 2N (9.8 in / 25 cm) are the two smallest complete lamps; anything larger overwhelms a nightstand and puts the light too close to a sleeper's eyes.

What each price band actually buys

The category runs from about $85 to $2,000. That spread is not marketing — it tracks three different things.

Two things drive price inside a single model: how much paper and bamboo the shade consumes, and how the ribs are joined. A wire frame and a hand-tied bamboo frame look identical in a photograph and behave completely differently after two humid summers.

Three kinds of "Noguchi Akari" on the market

Search the phrase and you will find three genuinely different products. Knowing which is which matters more than any brand claim.

1. Licensed production. Made under licence from the Noguchi estate, sold through the Noguchi Museum shop and through Vitra in Europe. Authentic, marked as such, and priced accordingly — a 3X runs about $195.

2. Independent workshops. Studios that build to the same proportions with their own materials. The shade form itself has been part of the public design vocabulary since 1951, so building in that language is open to anyone who does not use the Noguchi name as a trademark. This is where we sit: every shade hand-built in our own workshop, in the craft level you choose.

3. Marketplace copies. Mass-produced shades on wire frames with printed paper. Cheap, cheerful, and usually sagging within a year — the wire does not flex with humidity, so the paper carries all the stress and creases along the ribs.

Frequently asked

Know the size before you know the model.

See every model, measured →

Six models that are not numbers

A few pieces in the collection are named by letter or by shape instead of a number. They are the tallest and most sculptural of the range, which is also why they are the ones most often ordered at the wrong size. Here is what each one actually measures.

Check the ceiling before choosing one of these. The H, L, M-Series and 31N are all built for vertical space, while the Hat is the only one of the six meant to hang low over a surface.

• Akari 10A Floor Lamp: What 48 Inches Actually Means in a Room
• Akari 21A and 15A: Why Flat Saucers Beat Globes
• Japanese Lamp Shades: How Long They Actually Last
• Akari Lamp Size Guide — Every Model, Measured