Remember the times we spent in school desks; Which of us didn’t make a paper airplane and throw it left and right in a lesson we were bored, or made a paper ship and left it in a puddle? We were only making these for fun, we didn’t know that these shapes were simply a form of origami, the ancient Japanese art of folding paper. This is how origami is, you just use plain paper and your hands.
When you think of origami, we are sure that the first thing that comes to mind is a little swan or a jumping frog. These are great for beginner origami figures, but there are also the masters. What is done by just folding the paper without gluing or cutting it. Well, who first thought of doing such a thing? Let’s go on a journey through the dusty pages of history, let’s take a closer look at what origami is and where it first appeared.
For those who don’t know, let’s briefly explain; What is origami?
Derived from the Japanese words ori, which means folding, and gami, which means paper, origami is the ancient Japanese art of folding paper. It is an art in which movable or immobile shapes are created by folding plain papers of different sizes without cutting them in any way and without using any glue.
The Japanese art of folding paper origami may actually have originated in China:
As we all know more or less, paper was invented by the Chinese in the first century AD. With a simple reasoning, it is possible to say that the Chinese who found the paper were the first to fold it. Of course, it is not in the form of origami art, but it would not be wrong to think that the first paper shapes were made by the Chinese.
The art of folding actually existed before the invention of paper. Even today, swan shapes made of napkins and cloth were also made in ancient times. Moreover, it is known that just like origami-like shapes are made using leather. In other words, the art of folding has always existed, but we can say that with the invention of paper, it changed in size.
The first texts about origami art date back to the 17th century:
Invented in China, paper was supposedly taken to Korea and then to Japan by Buddhist monks in the 7th century. According to the information received so far, the Japanese have further developed the papermaking techniques invented by the Chinese and have begun to make much more durable papers.
We don’t know what happened, how it happened, who thought of it, if they were bored, but the Japanese started to make interesting shapes by folding the paper. A poem written by the Japanese poet Ihara Saikaku, who lived between 1642 and 1693, mentions a butterfly made of paper. Since it has become the subject of a poem, the art of origami must have been quite popular in the 17th century.
There is also a hundreds of years old book about origami:
Of course, we cannot think that everyone in the whole country is doing origami from a single sentence in the poem, but there is a book called Sembazuru Orikata, which is estimated to be written in 1797 in the next century. Written by Akisato Rito, this work mentions the place of origami in Japanese tradition.
Although the details are not included in the book, when we consider the conditions of the previous period, we can say that the art of origami appealed to the nobility rather than the public because paper was expensive. However, according to the tradition mentioned in the book that the wish of a person who makes a thousand paper cranes will be granted, it means that in the 18th century, most of the people were reaching for origami papers.
A German teacher introduced the Japanese art of paper folding to the world:
- Friedrich Froebel
Do not look at what we call a teacher, Friedrich Froebel, who lived between 1782 – 1852, is a teacher, of course, but he invented the kindergarten system. Friedrich Froebel; He invented three different concepts, The Folds of Life, the Folds of Truth, and the Folds of Beauty, and examined the effect of origami on education.
During the Friedrich Froebel era, all students in Europe started making origami. So much so that these shapes made up a large part of the Christmas decorations. There is even an origami shape called the Froebel star. More interestingly, the concepts introduced by Friedrich Froebel began to be taught in Japanese schools in the late 19th century. Any way you look at it, it’s interesting.
Origami has become increasingly popular in the world:
In the first years of the 20th century, the Waldorf School and the Bauhaus Design School in Germany began to teach origami. The Spanish writer and philosopher Miguel de Unamuno was famous for making paper birds like crazy. He even used origami as a constant metaphor in many debates about science, religion, philosophy, and life.
Vicente Solórzano Sagredo, an Argentine doctor, published a detailed handbook on origami during the same period. Margaret Campbell, on the other hand, published a book called Paper Toy Making in England in 1937 and presented many new designs. In 1939, mathematician Arthur Harold Stone made a study on the flexural structure of paper, paving the way for the creation of much more daring designs.
And Akira Yoshizawa, the genius of origami, takes the stage:
- Akira Yoshizawa
Born in 1911, Japanese Akira Yoshizawa, who is considered the greatest living master of origami, published a book called Atarashi Origami Geijutsu in 1954. We can clearly say that the designs of all origami shapes we know today started with this book.
Akira Yoshizawa became a true superstar in the origami world after this book and origami became known all over the world. He is said to have made more than 50,000 origami designs, but only a few hundred of them are included in a total of 18 books. When he passed away in 2005, he left such a great legacy behind.
Origami in the modern world:
After Akira Yoshizawa, origami became a well-known art all over the world, especially in the USA. Over time, types where paper was cut and pasted also emerged, but these are not called origami. Today, special papers of different colors are sold for origami, and there are countless design books where you can make any shape you can think of.
We talked about the details you need to know about the history of the Japanese through the question of what is origami, the ancient paper folding art. Origami is one of the most affordable and enjoyable hobbies you can do if you buy special papers and don’t spend big bucks.
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