What is origami?
Quick answer
Origami is the traditional Japanese art of paper folding, creating figures such as cranes, flowers and animals from a single sheet, usually without cutting or gluing. The word comes from Japanese oru (“to fold”) and kami (“paper”). Today, origami ideas are also used in engineering, from space telescopes to car airbags.
A short history
| Period | Development |
|---|---|
| Paper reaches Japan | Around the 6th–7th century, from China via Korea |
| Heian period (794–1185) | Paper was costly; folding was used in religious ceremonies |
| Edo period (1603–1868) | Origami became a popular pastime; the first known instruction book appeared in 1797 |
| 20th century | Akira Yoshizawa invented the modern diagram system of dashed and dotted lines |
Paper folding also developed independently in Europe, especially in Germany and Spain, where it’s called papiroflexia.
The 1,000 paper cranes
In Japan, the crane symbolizes long life and good fortune. A legend says anyone who folds 1,000 paper cranes (senbazuru) will be granted a wish.
Sadako Sasaki, a girl who developed leukemia after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, folded paper cranes while in the hospital before she died in 1955, aged 12. Her story made the paper crane a worldwide symbol of peace. Strings of cranes are left every year at the Children’s Peace Monument in Hiroshima.
Basic folds
- Valley fold: folding toward you, creating a “V”
- Mountain fold: folding away from you
- Squash fold and petal fold: used for cranes and flowers
Origami in science and engineering
| Use | How folding helps |
|---|---|
| Space telescopes | The James Webb Space Telescope’s sunshield and mirror folded to fit inside its rocket; see the first space telescope |
| Solar panels | The Miura fold lets large panels unfold in one motion |
| Medicine | Tiny folding stents and devices |
| Airbags | Computer models of how to fold them flat |
Kinds of origami
- Modular origami: many identical units fitted together
- Wet folding: dampened paper for curved, sculptural shapes
- Kirigami: a related art that allows cutting
Japanese has given English many words; see where the word tsunami comes from.
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