Origami (折り紙?,
from ori meaning "folding", and kami meaning "paper"; kami changes to
gami due to
rendaku)
is the traditional
Japanese
art
of paper folding, which started in the 17th century AD at the latest
and was popularized outside Japan in the mid-1900s. It has since then
evolved into
a modern art form. The goal of this art is to transform a flat sheet
of material into a finished sculpture through folding and sculpting
techniques, and
as such the use of cuts or glue are not considered to be origami.
The number of basic
origami folds
is small, but they can be combined in a variety of ways to make
intricate designs. The best known origami model is probably the
Japanese
paper crane.
In general, these designs begin with a
square
sheet of paper whose sides may be different colors or prints.
Traditional Japanese origami, which has been practiced since the
Edo era. It
has often been less strict about these conventions, sometimes
cutting the paper or using nonsquare shapes to start with.
Akira Yoshizawa,
the father of modern origami techniques.
Japanese school children dedicate their contribution of
Thousand origami cranes
at the
Sadako Sasaki
memorial in
Hiroshima.
There is much speculation as to the origin of origami. While Japan
seems to have had the most extensive tradition, there is evidence of
an independent tradition
of
paperfolding in China,
as well as in
Germany
and
Spain
among other places. However because of the problems associated with
preserving origami, there is very little direct evidence of its age or
origins, aside
from references in published material.
In China, traditional funerals include burning folded paper, most
often representations of gold nuggets (
yuanbao).
It is not known when this practice started, but it seems to have
become popular during the Sung Dynasty (905-1125 CE).
[1]
The paper folding has typically been of objects like dishes, hats or
boats rather than animals or flowers.
[2]
The earliest evidence of paperfolding in Europe is a picture of a
small paper boat in Tractatus
de sphaera mundi
from 1490. There is also evidence of a cut and folded paper box from 1440.
[3]
It is probable paperfolding in the west originated with the Moors much earlier,
[4]
it is not known if it was independently discovered or knowledge of
origami came along the silk route.
In Japan, the earliest unambiguous reference to a paper model is in a
short poem by
Ihara Saikaku
in 1680 which describes paper butterflies in a dream.
[5]
Origami butterflies were used during the celebration of
Shinto weddings
to represent the bride and groom, so paperfolding had already become
a significant aspect of Japanese ceremony by the
Heian period
(794–1185) of Japanese history, enough that the reference in this
poem would be recognized.
Samurai warriors
would exchange gifts adorned with
noshi,
a sort of good luck token made of folded strips of paper.
In the early 1900s,
Akira Yoshizawa,
Kosho Uchiyama,
and others began creating and recording original origami works. Akira
Yoshizawa in particular was responsible for a number of innovations,
such as
wet-folding
and the Yoshizawa-Randlett diagramming system, and his work inspired
a renaissance of the art form.
[6]
During the 1980s a number of folders started systematically studying
the mathematical properties of folded forms, which led to a steady
increase in the
complexity of origami models, which continued well into the 1990s,
after which some designers started returning to simpler forms.
