What is Origami?
Origami is the traditional Japanese art of paper folding. Paper was first invented in China in 105 A.D. and was brought to Japan by monks in the sixth century. Paper was very expensive and only available to a few. Paper folding originated for ceremonial purposes, often religious in nature, and was not made available to everyone. During the Edo period (1603-1868) in Japan, paper folding became much more recreational due to the mass production and ample availability of paper. It was regarded as a new form of art, and written instructions for paper folding were made obtainable in 1797 with Akisato Rito’s Sembazuru Orikata (thousand crane folding). By the late 1800’s the term for paper folding had morphed from orikata (folded shapes) to Origami. Japan was not the only region to fold paper. In the twelfth century the Moors brought a tradition of mathematically based folding of paper to Spain. It was further developed in Spain throughout the years and became papiroflexia or pajarita. in the 1930’s Akira Yoshizawa developed a system of folding patterns using a set of symbols, arrows, and diagrams. This made origami accessible to everyone, and after being published and distributed throughout the 1950’s, is soon became an international past time.