Origami is a fun and creative hobby using paper to create things - but the history behind this ancient art shows how art can transcend borders and religions.
It's likely you've seen origami and not realized it; watching intently as a small square of paper magically transforms into a beautiful crane or a majestic lion, the creator's fingers working skillfully across the sheet of paper. But origami is a hobby for everyone and has survived centuries of competition from other arts to thrive and grow in the twenty-first century.
It's generally accepted among scholars and artists that origami began approximately in the first century AD in China, where people discovered the simple thrill of folding paper into various shapes and forms. Many of these primitive methods survived to this day as basic origami shapes and moves. As the skill of making paper moved across the Eastern world the art became quite popular in Japan where it melded with the culture and religion at the time. Soon the Shinto religion integrated various origami shapes and creations in their ceremonies where they remain until this day. In fact, origami is a Japanese name itself meaning "ori" or folding and "gami" which means paper.
Of course, at this time paper was an expensive and rare commodity, so to be able to "waste" it for origami was a hobby for only the rich. Many noblemen would create special boxes to include gifts in; combining an exhibit of skill and wealth at the same time. As the production of paper spread and it became cheaper and more available, more people began to fold and create shapes and forms. But the habit of conservation exists to this day where many Japanese can fold ornate creations out of the smallest slip of paper to avoid wastage.
One major problem of ancient origami was that the techniques and designs were all oral; passed on through the mother to the daughter much like the oral traditions in other parts of the world. While this was mostly due to illiteracy on the part of the majority of the people, it was also because of the methods and creations involved - many families treasured their skill with paper and didn't want outsiders to steal their creations. As a result, many techniques were lost over time as word of mouth proved insufficient to keeping these secrets alive.
In the late seventeenth century and the early eighteen hundreds the first manuals were published, including many traditional folding diagrams and creations for the reader. One major design was of a Crane, a sacred creature in Japan. Legend says that if you build a thousand cranes that your wish will be granted; guaranteeing this bird a popular place in origami history. Another design was of a Frog, another welcome creature in Japanese folklore and popular with all.
As origami was just beginning to grow in Japan the art was already spreading in Spain. The secret of papermaking was taken by Arabs to North Africa and brought in the eighth century to Spain by the Moors. Being devoutly Muslim, the Moors could not create any figures and devoted themselves to the geometric creations that are still popular today, such as boxes and stars. Added to the creative animals that were being created in Japan, origami grew to be truly a worldwide art that crossed over religious and cultural barriers.
One of the modern fathers of origami is Akira Yoshizawa. Beginning in the 1930's, he has created thousands of models for origami enthusiasts and has helped spread this art across the world. He also developed the series of symbols and terms that allow this gentle art to transcend languages and borders where anyone anywhere can look at a set of instructions and create the object no matter where you are.
One popular story is about a young Hiroshima survivor called Sadako Sasaki. Born just before the atomic bombing she developed leukemia as a result of the radiation ten years later, in her early teens. As the disease wasted her body, this young woman who was a local track star began to fold cranes in the ancient legend that if she folded a thousand cranes she would have a wish granted - to be cured and well.
Sadako had folded over a thousand cranes when she succumbed to the disease at the tender age of 12. Her story was immortalized in 1960 by Eleanor Coerr in "Sadako and One Thousand Cranes"; soon taken up by many people as a major symbol of the peace movement. Even now cranes are being folded and sent to not only Hiroshima but many other places such as nursing homes and hospitals to give hope and inspiration to sick people everywhere.
A statue was created to Sadako in Hiroshima where she lived and died. Another statue exists in Seattle, Washington in the United States. Each day many people visit and leave small folded cranes to remember this brave little girl and the causes her cranes have come to stand for.
Not only a hobby for some, origami has become a forum for political and social causes. But in the end, it is still the simple art of paperfolding, open to anyone with a bit of patience and a lot of paper and time on their hands.
