Origami 折り紙
Origami has over a few hundred histories and now Origami is familiar to many people. I think there are many youtube videos and books about origami and you will learn how to make one.
I will be able to offer you an Origami program with a taste of other Japanese cultures. Celebrating Girls’ Festival, Boys’ Festival, Tanabata: Star festival, Peace and prayers. Please feel free to contact me. Any question is welcomed.
PLEASE LET ME SHARE MY MEMORIES OF ORIGAMI CRANE
As a Child
When I was a child, making a crane was so difficult, and I would give up and let my mother help me finish it. I remember enjoying origami with friends as a little school girl. Soon I learned how to fold my own crane when trying to make my wish come true. If we make 1,000 cranes, we believe a wish will come true. A crane is originally a symbol of good luck and long life. 1,000 cranes will bring much more happiness and good luck than just one crane. I gave up at around 600.
Away from Japan
I had forgotten about origami for a long time until, while on a trip to Europe in my 20s, I needed help and someone kindly helped me. I was so impressed, but I had nothing with which to express my gratitude so I made a crane. He said, “This is origami! Very beautiful!” I was surprised. I couldn’t believe he knew about origami living so far away from Japan. Amazing! I was very happy to see my tiny origami crane could express my appreciation. I realized then that just a single origami crane is very beautiful and how it represents well Japanese tradition and culture. Since then I often bring origami with me on my trips abroad. It’s a kind of messenger for me.
As a Teacher
As a school teacher, I made 1,000 cranes with my students for the physical recovery of certain students. We also made 1,000 cranes when we went on school trips to Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Okinawa for victims of A-bomb and war. We wished for peace and remembered the victims. I happened to know the story behind the 1,000 cranes of Sadako Sasaki.
For me an origami crane is like a language to express my love, gratitude, wishes and prayers…and much more.http://youtu.be/xxhLh95IbGg Sayaka is a high school girl in Japan who loves anime and the origami crane. I would like to share her skills and authentic Japanese manner. Please enjoy these pictures and video.
Origami (折り紙, from ori meaning “folding”, and kami meaning “paper”) is the traditional Japanese art of paper folding, which started in the 17th century at the latest and was popularized outside of Japan in the mid-1900s. It has since evolved into a modern art form. The goal of this art is to transform a flat sheet of paper into a finished sculpture through folding and sculpting techniques, and as such, the use of cuts or glue is not considered to be origami.
The number of basic origami folds is small, but they can be combined in a variety of ways to make intricate designs. The best-known origami model is probably the Japanese paper crane. In general, these designs begin with a square sheet of paper whose sides may be different colors or prints. Traditional Japanese origami, which has been practiced since the Edo era (1603–1867), has often been less strict about these conventions, sometimes cutting the paper or using nonsquare shapes to start with.
The principles of origami are also being used in stents, packaging, and other engineering structures.
From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origami