Origami is one of the traditional games in China, Korea, Japan, and Spain. Origami is Japanese. Actually it was introduced by the Japanese to the world. The word "origami" is a combination of two words, "ori" and "gami". The word "ori" comes from "oru." "Oru" means to fold something. "Gami" means paper. Usually the meaning of origami in Japan is the folding of rectangular paper to make some shape, but sometimes it means just rectangular paper. In Japan, a lot of companies produce many kinds of origami paper. The size of origami paper is not limited, but usually companies produce 15cm or 20cm side rectangular paper. It comes in a variety of colors on both sides. Thus, one can choose suitable colors depending on what kind of color thing we want to make. Now I want to introduce Origami in more detail. First, I will introduce the origin of origami. Second, I will consider how one can get origami paper. Third, I will discuss the basic rules of folding origami. These rules will help to understand some origami charts in books or on the internet. Special training is not necessary to make origami. One only needs a book for instruction. Fourth, we can fold some animals or insects together. Finally, I will talk about the future of origami, and why I have an interest in origami.
< The history of Origami. >
When we talk about the history of origami, we have to know not only about the history of paper, but also the history of origami in Japan, because the Japanese introduced origami to the world. Since around the late 1st century AD or early 2nd century AD, the time when it is believed that paper was first invented in China, people have been folding paper into various shapes. The method of papermaking was kept secret until the 6th century AD when the method was transfered to Korea. Even in the 7 century AD, the paper was still made in Japan. Since the Japanese made the paper by themselves, they developed origami as both art and entertainment. Uchiyama (1) writes that by the middle of the EDO period Origami had become a popular pastime in Japan, because the mass-producuction of paper began at that time. Especially from around 1700, pictures of the customs and habits of the people showed many kinds of origami. From around 1800, many kinds of professional origami guide books were published. Origami had become not just kids* play but a form of entertainment for adults. During the Meiji period (1868-1912), origami was taught as a class in kindergarten and elementary school. Froebel published his notes on education and paper folding in 1874. His theory of origami was based on geometry. Japanese education, under the influence of Froebel, changed greatly. However, sometime during the Taisho period (1912-1926), origami started to be ignored in education. Today, origami has established itself in many places around the world. Many people today have developed new and improved folding techniques that have produced new and exciting models.
>>(1) Origami Kosho Uchiyama, Kokudosha, 1962.
< Getting origami >
In many origami books and internet origami web pages, origami is made by using square paper. Of course we can get origami paper by buying it from the store, but we can also make it by ourselves. Now I will introduce three methods that enable you to make a square from any oblong. Whichever you chose, trim off the excess paper with great care--nothing in origami is more frustrating than trying to fold an imperfect square!
SIMPLE METHOD
NO-CREASE METHOD
DAMAGED SHEET METHOD
< Basic movement of Origami to fold >
valley fold
valley fold arrow
unfold
turn over
mountain fold
mountain fold arrow
fold dot to dot
enlarged
rotate
hold circles, pull in arrow direction
distance are equal
X-rayview
right angle
< Let`s fold origami >
TWO FLAPPING BIRDS
Here are the traditional Japanese Flapping bird, thought by many knowledgeable paperfolders to be one of the finest designs yet created. Its structure is wonderfully direct and simple, and the wing movements a delightful surprise. The first version is the better known. The second is a less familiar variant, which has a different and more reliable mechanism. Use a 15-20Cm(6-8in) square of thin paper.
STRAWBERRY
< The future of origami >
Today origami is used in many different fields. It is especially spotlighted as a new method of packing. Many countries prohibit packing with styrofoam, so paper has begun to be used instead of styrofam. Also, it has been studied by such aerospace organizations as NASA as a new method of transportation.
< Origami & Y.S. >
When I was studying in Japan for my master degree, my research paper was on "origami robots." Folding paper requires many kinds of hand movement. If a robot can fold as much origami as a human, perhaps it does not need to be improved, since the movement of the human hand is so smooth and accurate. Bascially, the robot*s movement was based on 6 axis movement. To control the robot hand, I had to design a program. The first step involved making origami in 2 dimensions. Then I used a computer mouse to fold the origami. In this program, when I made origami paper in cyberspace, I used object-orienting programming technique. Finally, I created the origami shape in cyber space. It has almost the same character in cyber space as it does in reality.