Origami: A guide for gift ideas

by FRANCIS NGASSAM

What is origami?Origami is the ancient Japanese art of paper-folding. It began in the 12th century as a way of constructing decorative holders and ornaments on offerings made to the gods. During the Muromashi period (1338-1573), several prominant Japanese families made decorative paper folding a requirement when presenting offerings to the gods. This is when the art of origami was officially born. This tradition lives on in Japan today, and presents are often decorated with origami figures called noshi, and origami figures known as mecho and ocho often decorate wedding gifts. Origami patterns were passed down from parent to child as a recreational activity, so there weren't written records of most designs. The first book of origami instructions was Senbazuru Orikata, meaning 'thousand crane folding was published in 1797. Although it showed many different origami shapes, the diagrams were scant, leaving the reader guessing as to how the shape was created. In the 1950s and 1960s the first specific diagrams were designed by Akira Yoshizawa. His designs were perfected by Samuel Randlett and Robert Harbin. This led to the Yoshizawa-Randlett-Harbin model of origami folding diagrams that was adopted as the international standard. It is still the general diagramming standard that is used today. Yoshizawa died in 2005 at the age of 94, but he is still considered the father of modern origami. These diagrams use specific dotted and dashed lines, as well as arrows to indicate fold types and fold direction. The arrows show how the paper is bent or moved, and the lines show various types of edges. A thick line indicates the edge of the paper. A dashed line indicates a ‘valley’ fold. A dashed and dotted line indicates a ‘mountain’ fold. For hundreds of years, the most complex origami figure consisted of about 20 folds. Now, however, advanced patterns of 100 to 200 steps are not uncommon. There are origami enthusiasts world-wide, as well as organizations devoted to the art, such as OrigamiUSA. OrigamiUSA is an educational and cultural organization dedicated to the art of origami paper-folding. It holds annual conventions, international contests, and boasts over 1600 members in the United States as well as 19 other countries.According to origami purists, there are only two rules to origami The folder may use only one square sheet of paper.2. The paper may not be cut or torn in any way.

125 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 19, 2012