Where did the art of Paper Folding come from?

Paper folding traditions began in Europe, China and Japan. These traditions all developed and flourished separately. The most well-known cultural technique comes from the Japanese paper folding, entitled, “Origami”.

What is Origami?

Origami often refers to the Japanese art of folding paper to create a finished sculpture through folding techniques. In Japanese “Ori” means folding and “Kami” means paper. One of the best know origami models is the Japanese paper crane which is commonly seen in modern culture such as games, movies and books. Origami can even be seen in stents, packaging and other engineering applications.

Origami Techniques

Traditional Japanese origami does not have a strict rule set, allowing for cutting and the use of non-square paper. More modern origami designs often stick to the conventional square shape. There are a lot of different folding techniques that can be taught through diagrams. In the videos, the names of these folds are not used. Instead each action is described in its most simple form to help you understand how these folds are completed.

The names of the nine most common folds are:

Valley/Mountain fold, Pleat fold, Rabbit Ear or Swivel Fold, Outside Reverse Fold, Inside Reverse Fold, Crimp Fold, Squash Fold, Sink Fold, Petal Fold.

The traditional fold names will not be used in these basic videos. Try some or all of them out for yourself.