Origami
折り紙
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Finding the origin and give an exact timeline of the currently know “origami”, paper-folding art, is not easy. As the roots are ancient, actual records are almost nonexistent. As an historical fact, paper and papermaking skills were brought from China to Japan during the 7th century by Buddhist monks. From there, the quality of papers eventually improved thanks to the Japanese papermakers which would made the paper suitable for folding. According to some studies, due to the high price of paper, the first Japanese paper folding art was used for religious rituals such as wrapping for offerings to the gods. Before 1600 no hard evidence of origami exists but some studies assert the Japanese were the first to use paper for art.
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Samurai families in the Muromachi period (1333–1568) used gift-wrapping method named origata (折型) which was exclusive to upper-class. This wrapping with paper was done without scissors, tape or glue. It is believed as one the roots of the paper-folding art. As washi (Japanese paper, 和紙) got affordable it grew in a popular practice among the common people to create gifts with it. Paper folding became known/named as origami (折り紙) during the Edo period (1603–1868). Sembazuru orikata (1,000 Cranes Folding) is one of the earliest known paper-folding related books which was published in 1797 by Akisato Rito. It introduce cultural customs and folding patterns.
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Akira Yoshizawa (1911–2005) is consider as a “grandmaster” who made history of origami. He published in 1954 Atarashi Origami Geijutsu (New Origami Art) book which established bases for symbols and notations used nowadays. In his lifetime he created around 50,000 different figures.
