Origami, or the Japanese art of paper folding, is said to have a history of over a thousand years. Whether or not this is really so is not important; far more significant, and certainly true, is the fact that generation after generation of Japanese children have shared this art, this game, the activity with their parents and grandparents. They spent time together recreating scenes from folktales, making simple and complex decorations, creating "props" for stores, and even inventing new objects.
Making origami is something all Japanese girls – and most boys – simply grow up doing. A child learns how to fold paper from parents, from friends, from teachers in school. For generations, the Japanese have used these small squares of colored paper not only to stretch the imagination but also the manual dexterity of their children, all the while never losing sight of the most important element: having fun. |
