The Story of the The Art of Origami
1
Thousand Cranes
Int
Folding a crane
History of the Japanese
Origami
1
1 2
troduction
Is a type of
Japanese
art where a piece of paper is used to create
Pape
It uses very few different folds and
creases in many different Variations and orders in order to create very different
shapes
Ori gami many decorative shapes or figures.
(Oru) To fold
(kami) Paper
2 3
er Folding
The be
While
Paper
The
Origin of Origami is vague as it is unknown whether it started in China or in Japan.
was first invented around 100BC in China, it spread to Japan during the 6th century. As there are no historical records of that time,
Japan
became the country accredited for Origami as it is the greater contributor to origami.
3
eginnings
Paper
However, during th
Expensive very
was originally
Therefore, it was originally only used in religious ceremonies.
he Japanese
Heian Period
(794-1185)
origami was used in formal
ceremonies.
In weddings, two origami butterflies, called ‘Mecho’ and ‘Acho’ were used to represent the bride and the groom respectively and were attached to Sake (Japanese wine) for decoration.
In addition, durin
4
Mass p
Muromachi Period
ng the
(1338-1573)
etiquette rules were established and applied to gift-giving where the
attaching of certain origami shapes to gifts became a custom.
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production
During the Japanese
Edo Period
(1603-1868) the mass production of paper started, leading to a great decrease in its price. From there on, origami became much more common amongst the people.
Until that p
oint,Origami’s...
folding instructions were passed down from generation to generation orally.
That is, until
The first book on folding by Sadatake Ise, was published. The book included instructions to folding 13 different ceremonial shapes.
5
The Me
This was followed by the first origami book,
Hiden Senbazuru Orikata (1797),
Secret to folding one thousand cranes.
A lot more books were published about origami from that point on and origami’s popularity increased.
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eiji Origami
The non-trad
In the Japanese
Meiji period (1868-1912)
origami had grown so popular that it was being taught to children in kindergartens and elementary schools.
Previously, paper folding for fun had
Many names
,
including “Orikata”, “Orisue”, “orimono” and “tatamigami”. However, in 1880, its name officially became “origami”.
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ditional Origami
A major figure who lead to the great spreading of origami internationally is
Akira Yoshizawa who became known as the Father of Origami
In the early 19
50s, he began publishing books with New Origami Models He also created a technique called ‘Wetfolding’ where a paper would be folded while wet in order to create complex models that would otherwise be impossible with dry
paper.
He, along with Samuel Rand
dlett and Robert Harbin
7
Modern O
also created a system to use in order to
Instruct
book readers on folding origami clearly.
This system is still now in use.
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Origami
These days, origami is being used as
Decorations
in holidays and celebratory events at people’s houses as well as outside.
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Origami for sc
In the Tanabata celebration
(“Evening of the seventh"), also known as the Star Festival,for example, origami are folded and hung onto
trees with people’s
Wishes In addition, the Noshi is still being attached to gifts as a good luck charm.
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Sadako an
cience
Nowadays,
Mathematical principles are being used in origami.
Robert lang speaks in a TedEd talk about how these methods are being used to create, not only very complex origami figures, but also to create easily
foldable
Scientific Instruments that could be much more easily transported anywhere, including space, then simply be unfolded in the location desired.
nd the Thousand Cranes
Sadako, a two year old at the time, was a survivor of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. However, later on, around 1955 she was diagnosed with leukemia and given, at most, a year to live. While in hospital, one day, her best friend who went to visit her started folding an origami crane and told her about a certain Japanese
saying
One who folds a thousand cranes can have a wish granted
Sadako was deeply influenced by that saying. Having seen many die of her disease, Sadako believed that it was impossible for her to recover but she still aimed to fold the thousand cranes, her wish being
Peace
However, Sadako was unable
to complete the thousand cranes and in her honor, her classmates finished folding them for her and raised a national campaign to build a
Statue in memory of Sadako and all of the victims of the bomb.
That statue is still standing in Japan now inspiring many to
Hang thousands of cranes
on her statue in the children’s honor.
http://www.south-ribble.org/origami/pages/about/about.htm http://www.origami.as/Info/history.php http://www.origami-resource-center.com/history-of-origami.html http://www.origamiwithrachelkatz.com/origami/origami.php http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/virtual/origami/origami01.html http://www.origami.gr.jp/Archives/People/OKMR_/history-e.html
By Mayar Sabea
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Origami https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Hiden_Senbazuru_Orikata http://www.hibakushastories.org/why-disarmament-education/making-paper-cranes-inmemory-of-sadako-sasaki/