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Origami (折り紙 or 折紙 origami "paper folding") is the art of paper folding. The goal of this art is to create a given result using geometric folds and crease patterns. The word literally means "paper folding" in Japanese and refers to all types of paper folding, even those of non-Japanese origin.

Origami only uses a small number of different folds, but they can be combined in a variety of ways to make intricate designs. In general, these designs begin with a square sheet of paper, whose sides may be different colors, and proceed without cutting the paper. Contrary to most popular belief, traditional Japanese origami, which has been practiced since the Edo era (1603-1867), has often been less strict about these conventions, sometimes cutting the paper during the creation of the design (Kirigami 切り紙) or starting with a rectangular, circular, or other non-square sheets of paper. It's also possible to create folds from triangular paper.

History

The earliest known Japanese origami is probably ceremonial paper folding, such as noshi (熨斗), which started in Muromachi era (1392-1573). The earliest known European origami is probably the baptismal certificate of 16th century, represented by a little bird (Pajarita in Spanish or Cocotte in French).

An origami design can be as simple as a party hat or paper airplane, or as complex as a model of the Eiffel Tower, a leaping gazelle or a stegosaurus that takes an hour and a half to fold. Sometimes the most complex origami models must be folded from foil instead of paper; this allows more layers before the paper becomes impractically thick. Modern origami has broken free from the traditional linear construction techniques of the past, and models are now frequently wet-folded or constructed from materials other than paper and foil. The Japanese do not see origami as an art form, but rather as an integrated part of their culture and tradition.

Joseph Albers, the father of modern color theory and minimalistic art, taught origami and paper folding in the 1920s and 30s. His methods, which involved sheets of round paper that were folded into spirals and curved shapes, have influenced modern origami artists like Kunihiko Kasahara. Friedrich Fröbel, founder of the kindergartens, recognized paper binding, weaving, folding, and cutting as teaching aids for child development during the early 1800s.

The work of Akira Yoshizawa of Japan, a prolific creator of origami designs and writer of books on origami, inspired a modern renaissance of the craft. His work was promoted through the studies of Gershon Legman as published in the seminal books of Robert Harbin Paper Magic and more so in Secrets of the Origami Masters which revealed the wide world of paperfolding in the mid 1960s. Modern origami has attracted a worldwide following, with ever more intricate designs and new techniques such as 'wet-folding,' the practice of dampening the paper somewhat during folding to allow the finished product to hold shape better, and variations such as modular origami also known as unit origami, where many origami units are assembled to form an often decorative whole.

Recent historians have uncovered the lost origami Tamatebako, a model from the folk tale of "Urashima-Taro and the Tamatebako". A three volume wood cut book, "Ranma-Zushiki", published in 1734, contained two pictures that were identified by Yasuo Koyanagi in 1993 as the Tamatebako model. Masao Okamura, an origami historian, was able to recreate the model. The model, contrary to common theory of traditional origami, involved cutting and gluing.

One of the most famous origami designs is the Japanese crane. The crane is auspicious in Japanese culture. Japan has launched a satellite named tsuru (crane). Legend says that anyone who folds one thousand paper cranes will have their heart's desire come true. The origami crane (折鶴 orizuru in Japanese) has become a symbol of peace because of this legend, and because of a young Japanese girl named Sadako Sasaki. Sadako was exposed to the radiation of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima as an infant, and it took its inevitable toll on her health. She was then, a hibakusha -- an atom bomb survivor. By the time she was twelve in 1955, she was dying of leukemia. Hearing the legend, she decided to fold 1,000 cranes so that she could live. However, it was not just for herself that she wished healing. It is said that what made the girl truly special in her effort was her additional wish to end all such suffering, to bring peace and healing to the victims of the world.

Sadako folded 644 cranes before she died. Her classmates continued folding cranes in honor of their friend. Sadako was buried with a wreath of 1,000 cranes. While her effort could not extend her life, it moved her friends to make a granite statue of Sadako in the Hiroshima Peace Park: a young girl standing with her hand outstretched, a paper crane flying from her fingertips. Every year the statue is adorned with thousands of wreaths of a thousand origami cranes. A group of one thousand paper cranes is called senbazuru in Japanese.

The tale of Sadako has been dramatized in many books and movies. In one version, Sadako wrote a haiku that translates into English as:

I shall write peace upon your wings, and you shall fly around the world so that children will no longer have to die this way.

Taking Origami developments into the 21st Century, designer Jay Cousins created a simpler form of Origami in plastic - dubbed orikaso. Influenced by the purity and beauty of Origami, and Japanese design principles, Orikaso processes can be used to create functional and useful products.

Basic instructions

Most origami folds can be broken down into simpler steps. A list of techniques is accumulating in the origami tech tree.

Paper and other materials

Although almost any laminar material can be used for folding, the choice of material used greatly affects the folding and final look of the model.

Normal copy paper with weights of 70–90 gsm can be used for simple folds, such as the crane and waterbomb.

Heavier weight papers of 100 gsm or more can be wetfolded. This technique allows for a more rounded sculpting of the model, which becomes rigid and sturdy when dry.

Kami is sold in prepackaged squares of various sizes ranging from 2.5 cm to 25 cm or more. It is commonly coloured on one side and white on the other; however, duo coloured kami and patterned kami exist and can be used effectively for colour-changed models. The weight of kami is slightly less than that of copy paper, making it suitable for a wider range of models.

Foil-backed paper, just as its name implies, is a sheet of thin foil adhered to a sheet of thin paper. Related to this is tissue foil, which is made by gluing a thin piece of tissue to kitchen aluminium foil. A second piece of tissue can be glued onto the reverse side to produce a tissue/foil/tissue sandwich. Foil-backed paper is available commercially but not tissue foil. Both types of foil materials are suitable for complex models.

Artisan papers such as unryu, lokta, hanji, gampi, kozo, saa have long fibres and are often extremely strong. As these papers are floppy to start with, they are often backcoated or resized with methylcellulose or wheat paste before folding. Also, these papers are extremely thin and compressible, allowing for thin, narrowed limbs as in the case of insect models.

Korean Origami（Jibang）

There was a custom of doing Origami also in South Korea according to the insistence on "Korea Jongie Jupgi Association". It was called "Jibang". The technology of "Jibang" was exterminated by the Korean cultural, cultural suppression policy of Japan in the colonialization age of Japan.

Mathematics of origami

Main article: Mathematics of paper folding

The practice and study of origami encapsulates several subjects of mathematical interest. For instance, the problem of flat-foldability (whether a crease pattern can be folded into a 2-Dimensional model) has been a topic of considerable mathematical study.

Folding a flat model from a crease pattern has been proven by Marshall Bern and Barry Hayes to be NP complete.

The problem of rigid origami ("if we replaced the paper with sheet metal and had hinges in place of the crease lines, could we still fold the model?") has great practical importance. For example, the Miura map fold is a rigid fold that has been used to deploy large solar panel arrays for space satellites.

See also

• Origamic architecture
• Modular origami
• Origami techniques
• Gami, Plastic Origami
• Aerogami
• Chinese paper folding
• Paper plane
• Pepakura
• Noshi
• Tsutsumi
• Kusudama

Authors

• Akira Yoshizawa - reinvented modern origami. Created the modern repertoire of folding symbols
• Robert J. Lang - Author of many Origami books including the new benchmark Origami Design Secrets
• David Brill
• Peter Engel - influential origami artist and theorist
• Tomoko Fusé - famous for boxes and unit origami
• Robert Harbin - popularised origami in Britain; also presented a series of short programmes entitled Origami, made by Thames Television for ITV
• Kunihiko Kasahara (笠原邦彦) - devised a standardized method for creating any polyhedron
• John Montroll - one of the most prolific Western artists
• Nick Robinson - origami artist and author of over a dozen books on origami
• Toshikazu Kawasaki - Japanese mathematician famous for his Iso-area folding theory and his many geometric folds, including Kawasaki's Rose
• Makoto Yamaguchi
• Jun Maekawa

External links

• Robert J. Lang Origami Robert J. Lang is one of the most important origami artists alive today.
• Origami USA's Website The major Origami organization of the United States, make sure to check out their models database.
• British Origami Society
• Treemaker A software tool to help design models of any complexity.
• Origami Forum The Online Origami Forum.
• Model Errata A user-maintained list of origami book errata and hints. Hosted on the Origami Underground.
• Joseph Wu's Origami Page This popular website has many fascinating and well-documented features.
• The FOLDS.NET Guide to Paperfolding Instructions on the Web
• Origami.com has a good database of folding diagrams
• The Origami Underground Diagrams for erotic and politically challenging origami.
• Gilad's Origami Page Hundreds of origami book reviews (with pictures) and huge galleries of folded models.
• BestPaperAirplanes.com
• A magical world of Disneyesque origami
• Origami Shrine
• Einstein's Origami Puzzles, games and other paper folding activities.
• paper CD case helps you print and fold a paper CD case.
• Oxford Origami Society Student society at the University of Oxford for teaching and promoting the art and science of Origami.

Further reading

• Robert J. Lang. The Complete Book of Origami: Step-by-Step Instructions in Over 1000 Diagrams. Dover Publications, Mineola, NY. Copyright 1988 by Robert J. Lang. ISBN 0-486-25837-8 (pbk.)

Pages 1-30 are an excellent introduction to most of these skills. Each of these 13 models is designed to let you practice one skill several times. Unfortunately, the remaining 24 models leave out lots of pre-creases.

• Tomoko Fuse. Unit Origami: Multidimensional Transformations. Japan Publications, inc. Tokyo. Copyright 1990 by Tomoko Fuse. ISBN 0-87040-852-6

This is an excellent book about modular origami, and serves as a great introduction to geometric models and designs.

• Kunihiko Kasahara. Origami Omnibus: Paper Folding for Everybody. Japan Publications, inc. Tokyo. Copyright 1988 by Kunihiko Kasahara. ISBN 4-8170-9001-4

A good book for a more advanced origamian, this book presents many more complicated ideas and theories, although the author tends to go off on long tangents about random topics. Still lots of good models though...

• Kunihiko Kasahara and Toshie Takahama. Origami for the Connoisseur. Japan Publications, inc. Tokyo. Copyright 1987 by Kunihiko Kasahara and Toshie Takahama. ISBN 0-87040-670-1

Another good book; same comments as the previous author.

• One Thousand Paper Cranes: The Story of Sadako and the Children's Peace Statue by Takayuki Ishii, ISBN 0440228433
• Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr, ISBN 0698118022
• Origami 1, Robert Harbin, 1969, ISBN 0340109025
• Origami 2, Robert Harbin, ISBN 0340153849
• Origami 3, Robert Harbin, 1972, ISBN 034016655X
• Origami 4, Robert Harbin, 1977, ISBN ? (rare)
• Origami Design Secrets, Robert J. Lang, 2003, ISBN 1568811942
• Extreme Origami, Kunihiko Kasahara, 2001, ISBN 0806988533
• Ariomar Ferreira da Silva. Brincando com Origami Arquitetônico: 16 diagrams. Global Editora, São Paulo, Brazil. Copyright 1991 by Ariomar Ferreira da Silva and Leôncio de O. Carvalho. ISBN 85-260-0273-2

• Origami
• Japanese terms