Origami
Origami is the Japanese art of paper folding. In modern usage, the word origami is often used as an inclusive term for all folding practices, regardless of their culture of origin. The goal is to transform a flat square sheet of paper into a finished sculpture through folding and sculpting techniques. Modern origami practitioners generally discourage the use of cuts, glue, or markings on the paper. Origami folders often use the Japanese word to refer to designs which use cuts.
In the detailed Japanese classification, origami is divided into stylized ceremonial origami and recreational origami, and only recreational origami is generally recognized as origami. In Japan, ceremonial origami is generally called "origata" to distinguish it from recreational origami. The term "origata" is one of the old terms for origami.
The small number of basic origami folds can be combined in a variety of ways to make intricate designs. The best-known origami model is the Japanese paper crane. In general, these designs begin with a square sheet of paper whose sides may be of different colors, prints, or patterns. Traditional Japanese origami, which has been practiced since the Edo period, has often been less strict about these conventions, sometimes cutting the paper or using nonsquare shapes to start with. The principles of origami are also used in stents, packaging, and other engineering applications.
Etymology
The word "origami" is a compound of two smaller words: "ori", meaning to fold, and "kami", meaning paper. Until recently, not all forms of paper folding were grouped under the word origami. Before that, paper folding for play was known by a variety of names, including "orikata" or "origata", "orisue", "orimono", "tatamigami" and others.History
Distinct paperfolding traditions arose in Europe, China, and Japan which have been well-documented by historians. These seem to have been mostly separate traditions, until the 20th century.Ceremonial origami (origata)
By the 7th century, paper had been introduced to Japan from China via the Korean Peninsula, and the Japanese developed washi by improving the method of making paper in the Heian period. The papermaking technique developed in Japan around 805 to 809 was called nagashi-suki , a method of adding mucilage to the process of the conventional tame-suki technique to form a stronger layer of paper fibers. With the development of Japanese papermaking technology and the widespread use of paper, folded paper began to be used for decorations and tools for religious ceremonies such as gohei, ōnusa and shide at Shinto shrines. Religious decorations made of paper and the way gifts were wrapped in folded paper gradually became stylized and established as ceremonial origami. During the Heian period, the Imperial court established a code of etiquette for wrapping money and goods used in ceremonies with folded paper, and a code of etiquette for wrapping gifts.In the Muromachi period from the 1300s to the 1400s, various forms of decorum were developed by the Ogasawara clan and Ise clans, completing the prototype of Japanese folded-paper decorum that continues to this day. The Ise clan presided over the decorum of the inside of the palace of the Ashikaga Shogunate, and in particular, Ise Sadachika during the reign of the eighth Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimasa, greatly influenced the development of the decorum of the daimyo and samurai classes, leading to the development of various stylized forms of ceremonial origami. The shapes of ceremonial origami created in this period were geometric, and the shapes of noshi to be attached to gifts at feasts and weddings, and origami that imitated butterflies to be displayed on sake vessels, were quite different from those of later generations of recreational origami whose shapes captured the characteristics of real objects and living things. The "noshi" wrapping, and the folding of female and male butterflies, which are still used for weddings and celebrations, are a continuation and development of a tradition that began in the Muromachi period. A reference in a poem by Ihara Saikaku from 1680 describes the origami butterflies used during Shinto weddings to represent the bride and groom.
Recreational origami
1500s－1800s
It is not certain when play-made paper models, now commonly known as origami, began in Japan. However, the kozuka of a Japanese sword made by Gotō Eijō between the end of the 1500s and the beginning of the 1600s was decorated with a picture of a crane made of origami, and it is believed that origami for play existed by the Sengoku period or the early Edo period.In 1747, during the Edo period, a book titled Ranma zushiki was published, which contained various designs of the ranma, a decoration of Japanese architecture. This included origami of various designs, including paper models of cranes, which are still well known today. It is thought that by this time, many people were familiar with origami for play, which modern people recognize as origami. During this period, origami was commonly called orikata or orisue and was often used as a pattern on kimonos and decorations.
Hiden senbazuru orikata , published in 1797, is the oldest known technical book on origami for play. The book contains 49 origami pieces created by a Buddhist monk named Gidō in Ise Province, whose works were named and accompanied by kyōka by author Akisato Ritō. These pieces were far more technically advanced than their predecessors, suggesting that origami culture had become more sophisticated. Gido continued to produce origami after the publication of his book, leaving at least 158 highly skilled masterpieces for posterity. In 1976, Kuwana City in Mie Prefecture, Gido's hometown, designated 49 of the methods described in the Hiden senbazuru orikata as Intangible Cultural Properties of Kuwana City. Kuwana City has also certified qualified persons who are able to correctly produce these works and have in-depth knowledge of the art. Kuwana City has published some of the origami production methods on YouTube.
From the late Edo period to the Bakumatu period, origami that imitated the six legendary Japanese poets, rokkasen listed in the Kokin Wakashū compiled in the 900s and the characters in Chūshingura became popular, but today they are rarely used as subjects for origami.
In Europe, there was a well-developed genre of napkin folding, which flourished during the 17th and 18th centuries. After this period, this genre declined and was mostly forgotten; historian Joan Sallas attributes this to the introduction of porcelain, which replaced complex napkin folds as a dinner-table status symbol among nobility. However, some of the techniques and bases associated with this tradition continued to be a part of European culture; folding was a significant part of Friedrich Fröbel's "Kindergarten" method, and the designs published in connection with his curriculum are stylistically similar to the napkin fold repertoire. Another example of early origami in Europe is the "pajarita," a stylized bird whose origins date from at least the nineteenth century.
Since 1800s
When Japan opened its borders in the 1860s, as part of a modernization strategy, they imported Fröbel's Kindergarten system—and with it, German ideas about paperfolding. This included the ban on cuts, and the starting shape of a bicolored square. These ideas, and some of the European folding repertoire, were integrated into the Japanese tradition. Before this, traditional Japanese sources use a variety of starting shapes, often had cuts, and if they had color or markings, these were added after the model was folded. In Japan, the first kindergarten was established in 1875, and origami was promoted as part of early childhood education. The kindergarten's 1877 regulations listed 25 activities, including origami subjects. Shōkokumin, a magazine for boys, frequently published articles on origami. Origami Zusetsu, published in 1908, clearly distinguished ceremonial origami from recreational origami. These books and magazines carried both the traditional Japanese style of origami and the style inspired by Fröbel.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.
In 1974, origami was offered in the USSR as an additional activity for elementary school children.
During the 1980s a number of folders started systematically studying the mathematical properties of folded forms, which led to a rapid increase in the complexity of origami models.
Starting in the late 20th century, there has been a renewed interest in understanding the behavior of folding matter, both artistically and scientifically. The "new origami," which distinguishes it from old craft practices, has had a rapid evolution due to the contribution of computational mathematics and the development of techniques such as box-pleating, tessellations and wet-folding. Artists like Robert J. Lang, Erik Demaine, Sipho Mabona, , , and others, are frequently cited for advancing new applications of the art. The computational facet and the interchanges through social networks, where new techniques and designs are introduced, have raised the profile of origami in the 21st century.