Japanese Origami By: Yeon, Sadie, and Kelsey

Contents  Origami History  Crane Origami  Frog Origami  Butterfly Origami  Tutorials

Location of Japan  Japan is surrounded by sea and is located to the east of Russia, China, and Korea.

Origami History Origami is the Japanese art of paper folding. It got it’s name because “ori” means to fold, and “kami” means paper. But, origami didn’t start in Japan, it actually started in China, and spread to Japan.

Origami History  When origami first came to Japan there wasn’t much paper, so it was something only the rich would do. Often the paper would be folded with dried fish or meat. However, eventually paper became more inexpensive. Thus, majority of the population began folding origami, no matter their social status or economic situation. Usually using all the paper, down to the last scraps.

Origami History  There were many different forms of origami for different occasions. Also, origami was used for many different ceremonies, such as weddings, funerals, and births. One more detailed example is the butterfly used at wedding to be wrapped around glass. But, some created origami for exchanging gifts.

Origami History  There were never any set rules on how to fold the paper. So, it was folded based on how one person was taught to, this was constantly passed on through generations. Up until it became a part of the cultural heritage.  Especially, because it was very hard to fold it in the exact same way for that very reason, at this time, origami was used to send love notes. Therefore, the person receiving the note would know if it had been read before it got to them.  But, eventually people wrote how to books, the very first one was called “How to fold 1,000 cranes”. Following with another book, containing 150 instructions to origami’s.

Examples of origami

Crane Origami  This very book that was written, contained the first set rules on how to fold a paper crane.  In the Japanese culture, the Crane is considered the sacred bird. This is because it was believed that if a person were to fold 1000 paper cranes, they would be granted their greatest wish.  Also known to be the symbol of honor and loyalty.

Crane Origami Example Story  An example of the paper crane theories is that; a girl with the name of Sadako Sasaki lived in Hiroshima during the time of the atomic bombing and from the radiation she got leukemia. She was in a nursing home, and spent her time folding 1,000 paper cranes, in hope that her one wish, to live, would come true. However she didn’t complete her task but got to 644 done, and passed away. But her friends and family completed the task.

Frog Origami Similar to how the word origami was conceived, the word frog and to return are enunciated the same way. Therefore, a custom was created where a geisha has to pin a origami frog, on a pillar after entertaining a patron they favored. Especially, because they hoped the patron would return.

Butterfly Origami  The oldest origami's are butterflies. These butterflies are called "Mecho" and "Ocho". Due to the fact that they are one of the oldest origami forms, they are very important to Japanese culture. However, no one is exactly sure what they look like. People can only guess how the different butterflies were made.

Butterfly Orgiami  Butterflies are used in weddings because "Mecho" is female and "Ocho" is male. Also two butterflies that fly together represents love in Japan. These origami's can also be used to wrap around bottles at weddings.

Information Bibliography  Callie, and Jeremy. "History of Origami." Web. 30 May  "The Crane - Symbol of Honor and Loyalty." Lisa Shea - Origami, Parakeets, Birding. Web. 30 May  "History of Origami and the Crane." Lisa Shea - Origami, Parakeets, Birding. Web. 30 May  "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 30 May

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