Origami was originated in China in the 1 st century AD but now it is more popular in Japan. It became a large impact to Japanese cultures after the introduction of origami to Japan. Origami is when paper is folded to make a lovely design. In Japanese, the word oru is the word for folding and kami is for paper. Washi is the Japanese word for handmade paper, most people know it as rice paper but it is not made with rice at all. Different things can be made from different coloured paper such as animals, boxes, flowers, cranes etc.

There was not very much paper available so only people who can afford it can do origami. Eventually, paper was easier to make so it became less expensive which gave everybody the joy of it. They use every single bit of paper they could find and turned it in to art. Nothing was put in the bin. It use to be only used for religious reasons but now people fold them for fun or for presents to give to people. People also use origami for decorations. Origami was originally used for architecture and eventually became a common form of art and is taught in some Japanese schools. Certain weddings use butterflies for decoration.

There are many varieties of origami styles such as animals which includes cranes, butterflies, dogs and rabbits. Traditional origami includes the paper crane, as well as the butterfly, kimono and yakko-san. As well as this there are the technical and complex mathematical forms of origami. Another form is the style of origami made from a series of tessellating shapes. There are many different base folds as well for instance the water bomb, bird and preliminary bases. Water bomb base Bird base Preliminary base

Introduction Japanese Art [online] 5th September Callie and Jeremy, Pieces n Creases History of Origami [online] 5th September th September th September 2009, 10th September Wikipedia [online] 10th September Eric M. Andersen, 2004, Origami History [online] 10th September Eric M. Andersen, 2004, Origami & Math [online] 10th September 2009.

Created By Michelle Lee and Katelyn Middlemiss ♥ :)