Jave Yoshimoto, or “Yoshi” as friends and fans call him, is chasing an ever-moving target. He is a lesson in the art of loving life, and it doesn’t take a trained eye to see the masterpiece that’s unfolding.
Born in Japan to Chinese parents, Yoshimoto’s love of travel has been built into nearly every aspect of his identity. Like his roaming art education—earning his Bachelor’s in Studio Art at the Univerity of California, Samta Barbara, his post-baccalaureate in the same subject as well as a Masters in Art Therapy at the Art Institute of Chicago, and his Masters in Painting at Syracuse University—his art career and latest hobby keep his odometer spinning.
“Back in 2014, I was teaching at Northwest State University and saw a posting for a job at UNO [the University of Nebraska Omaha]. Out of 150 applicants, I was offered the job,” Yoshimoto recalled. “It felt like a great opportunity to get involved in the community and inspire these great, young, artistic minds.”
Since relocating to Omaha in 2015, Yoshimoto has served as associate professor of art at UNO and continues to create on his own time. His works have been shown at the Mariani Gallery at the University of Northern Colorado, at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts in Nebraska City, at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art in Santa Ana, and recently at the Decatur Area Arts Council in Decatur, Illinois.
“I spent some time doing a residency in Tulsa while working remotely at UNO. In 2018, toward the end of my residency, I discovered throwing,” Yoshimoto said. “I was hanging out with friends in their backyard, having a few drinks. They had a makeshift target set up, and when I took my first throw, the hatchet flew over the fence and into the neighbor’s backyard. I kept trying while my friends were teasing me that maybe this wasn’t the hobby for me. No matter how hard I threw, I over rotated or under rotated. It just bounced right off. Nothing I did was getting the hatchet to sink into the target.”
Returning to Omaha, Yoshimoto was determined to continue pursuing his new hyper fixation and found Craft Axe in Lincoln to be the ideal outlet.
“I loved it there, and then I found out they were opening a location in Omaha. I was there the first day waiting in the parking lot,” he shared. “The grand opening was at noon, and I was their first customer in the door at 11:59.
“It started as just me pursuing this weird new hobby,” Yoshimoto continued. “But it became a continuation of my art. I want every brush stroke, every line to be absolutely perfect. So now, every throw has to be perfect. Motion matters. Breathing matters. How I hold the axe matters. The concentration exposes my strengths and weaknesses, physically and mentally. And if I miss, I get so frustrated and beat myself up a little. Similar to when I’m painting, I’ll come back and control my breathing and my strokes. The meditation of it translates directly in my creative and competitive practices.”
Yoshimoto soon began joining tournaments and marathon leagues, quickly becoming one of the sport’s first ambassadors. “In a typical league, you’ve got eight weeks of competition. In a marathon league, all eight weeks are condensed into one day—10 throws against your opponent. I started traveling to different states for competition, and it was very reminiscent of traveling for my art career, always meeting people I wouldn’t have the privilege of knowing without this medium [and] making friends with people from different cultures and religions and backgrounds. I get to connect with these fascinating individuals, and I always walk away with a sense of camaraderie.”
One such individual Yoshimoto has connected with is Sara Gerke, whose 12-year-old daughter, Ella, has been throwing for five years.
“We met Yoshi at the first National Tournament that Ella was throwing at in Des Moines,” Gerke said. “He was fascinated by Ella’s performance, which we hear a lot. At four feet tall, she was throwing against someone who was over six feet. Yoshi used an image from that match to create a layered woodwork for Ella. He’s such an incredibly talented artist!
“Yoshi was so easy to make friends with, and so easy to root for as a person and as a thrower,” Gerke continued. “We were really lucky to connect with him. He’s such a giving, caring person and he just wants to love life and to help everyone around him love life, too.”
You might attribute Yoshimoto’s easy friendships with those he throws against to the fact that he doesn’t see them as competition.
“The real opponent is in your head,” he insisted. “You can get so tough on yourself that it really affects how you throw. Champion throwers can shake off that over-thinking and let muscle memory take over. But it’s so mental. That’s why I haven’t done very well in tournaments. Third place is the best I’ve ever placed, but I’ve been working hard toward breaking through.”
If you want to know how Yoshi’s work has paid off at 2024’s World Axe and Knife Throwing Championships in Tulsa in April, or to see the exquisite trophies he has carved (for the third year in a row), follow him at @Javethrows on Instagram or online at javeyoshimoto.com.
This article originally appeared in the May 2024 issue of Omaha Magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
