Robert Lang Lecture

Gustavus Adolphus College hosted a night with Robert Lang as part of their Rydell Professorship program. It was at the Science Museum of Minnesota where he gave us his standard lecture: From Flapping Birds to Space Telescopes. I've seen it once before, but it was nice to hear it again.

Origami Minnesota also had a presence at the event. We have a neat new flyer, which has been printed on origami sheets!

I think it was a pretty great idea. We also taught some people how to fold cranes for the Cranestorm project, which has reached 70,000+ cranes! They still need almost 30,000 more.

If you want to see Lang's lecture for yourself, it's best to try and catch one of his live lectures, but there is a little bit online. Unfortunately, neither of the following links covers the total content of the lecture. :(

=>The IMA lecture is cut short, because they did not get permission to post all of the lecture. 

Partial IMA lecture

=>The TED lecture is short because TED limits their speakers to 18 minutes on stage, while Lang's lecture can fill up an hour, easy. 

Abbreviated TED lecture

Still, I hope you enjoy it!

Hiden Senbazuru Orikata

The Hiden Senbazuru Orikata (The Secret of 1000 Cranes Paperfolding) is the first origami text in existence.

It was first published in 1797, and does not appear to have been republished since. It marks a turning point in origami tradition when the method for teaching shifted from exclusively direct instruction to text and diagram instruction. Now, people in one hemisphere teach people in the other hemisphere without ever meeting. There are untold hundreds (or thousands?) of origami books out there, everyone teaching everyone.

This particular book is not the most helpful. If you are a beginner, it lacks many diagrams, and all the models rely exclusively on cutting the paper.  Specifically, it shows various ways to precut sheets of paper in order to create connected cranes. 

I suggest checking out the full book. There is more to it than origami. It has a few pictures of people playing with cranes, both the animal and the folded paper. I find it very charming. But remember, Japanese is written from the opposite direction, so page 6 is left of page 5, for example.

I would love to be able to read the text, but I do not know how to read Japanese, yet. If anyone thinks they can translate, I would be interested.

[I should mention that the pictures were originally hosted by the Japan Origami Academic Society, but were taken down. The web archive still has the original page up. If it works for you, great, but if it does not, I took the liberty of putting them here.]

The History of Origami

I am going to be teaching a little origami in an introductory course for some middle schoolers. I thought I should provide a handout with a summary of origami history for the students. This is my first draft:

In the year 105 AD, Cai Lun invented paper for the Han Dynasty in China. At that time, it was a very difficult to make paper and so it was only for the very rich. The Chinese may have folded paper shortly after inventing it, but it is not clear if they did. Eventually, monks brought the knowledge of how to make paper from China to Japan in the 6th century.


Nobody knows exactly when the Japanese began folding paper, but is it known that the first models were for ceremonial purposes. The noshi was given with gifts, especially among samurai, and were considered tokens of good luck. The mecho and ocho butterflies were used in traditional Shinto weddings, possibly as early as the Heian period (794–1185). Unfortunately, the models were not written down since they were taught from parents to children. Nor were they given a single name. Origami was also called Orikata, Orisui and Orimono.

Noshi

The first book on origami was published in 1797, called Hiden Senbazuru Orikata (The Secret of One Thousand Cranes Paperfolding) and it gave instructions on how to fold multiple cranes so that they are linked together. All the traditional folds were published in other books and origami became very popular in Japan.

The knowledge of paper making also spread west over the Silk Road through the Middle East. It reached Spain in 1036 with the Moor invasions and spread to the rest of Europe. At first, simple astrological diagrams (similar to fortune tellers) were folded in Spain. In the 16th century, napkin folding became popular among dinner tables for the nobility.

By the time Friedrich Fröbel lived (1782–1852), people all over Europe were folding. He was a teacher who also folded. He changed schools all over the world when he invented kindergarten. As the idea of kindergarten spread, so did origami, but it was still very simple. Miguel Unamuno (1864–1936) was an author and teacher who lived in Spain. He made many discoveries about new ways to fold and his ideas spread to the Spanish speaking countries of the world.

But it would be Japan that would finally make origami a worldwide art. Akira Yoshizawa (1911–2005), grew up folding. It is believed that he folded as many as 50,000 models throughout his life. He was different than other Japanese folders in that he insisted that origami was a creative artform, like painting or sculpting. In the 1950's he became a respected folder and published several books. He invented the standard instructions used by authors today. His work became very popular and he coordinated with many other folders in the United States.

After meeting Yoshizawa, Lillian Oppenheimer founded the Origami Center in New York in 1958 and folding groups started to appear all over the world. Some of the notable groups today include OrigamiUSA, the British Origami Society, Nippon Origami Association, Japanese Origami Art Society, and the Israeli Origami Center.

Further reading:

http://www.paperfolding.com/history/

http://www.britishorigami.info/academic/lister/basichistory.php

[The image is from the National Diet Library (Diet, as in legislative body)]

Akira Yoshizawa

Akira Yoshizawa (March 14, 1911 - March 14, 2005) is credited with the founding of the modern origami movement, and for that reason it is important to take a glance at his life and works.

What makes Yoshizawa so influential is that he changed origami on several levels throughout his life. He developed a method of diagramming the folding process which made it possible for folders to share models across language barriers. He invented wet-folding which softened the harsh geometric lines and allowed for more life-like models. His art was recognized by the Japanese government which awarded him the Order of the Rising Sun, and used him as a cultural ambassador all across the globe.

He was born into a humble farming family, where he was introduced to origami. Then he spent time as a factory worker beginning at the age of 13. Eventually he became a draftsman for the same company and was responsible for teaching geometry to apprentices. He used origami to demonstrate various concepts. He left the factory at 26 to devote himself full-time to origami, making some money doing odd-jobs. He studied to be a Buddhist priest for two years, but never joined a monastery. When war broke out, he joined the Japanese medical corps and worked in Hong Kong where he made origami for the patients there. When he became ill, he returned to Japan. His first great work was a set of zodiac symbols which brought him fame. He started the International Origami Center in Tokyo in 1955 and spent time traveling, teaching and folding.

[The image is from the Origami Chile website]

First Project!

There is a popular belief that if you fold 1000 paper cranes, you may have one wish granted, much like finding a magic lamp. If you know of this, it is likely because of the children's book Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr, which follows Sadako Sasaki, a young Japanese girl who became ill with the "atom bomb sickness" (leukemia) after the United States nuked Hiroshima. She folded cranes while in the hospital, hoping to fold 1000. According to the book, she reached 644 before passing away. Her friends and classmates completed the other 356 so that she could be buried with all 1000.

In many ways, this is such an important aspect of origami in the world. This story is what has solidified the paper crane as the peace crane. It is one of the reasons people even are introduced to origami in the first place. And so I have decided that I will fold 1000 paper cranes to pay respects to the tradition.

I have no idea how many cranes I have folded thus far in my life, so for this project I will begin at 0001 and work my way up. I have been known to abandon origami in public places, and therefore cannot expect to possess all 1000 cranes at the end. Instead, I will write which crane it is, and then leave it so that someone may find it. Sometimes my origami comes back to me, so I guess I will see if that happens again!