Japanese words ori (to fold) and kami (paper). The skill of transforming flat pieces of paper into birds, butterflies or other decorative objects dates back some 1,500 years, to a time when Buddhist monks turned expensive paper into objects for religious ceremonies.
The first instructional book on origami was published, complete with illustrations, in Japan in 1797. But how did the word find its way into English? A 1922 account of paper-folding in schools uses the word origami, but it was Robert Harbin the South-African born magician who popularised the activity globally. Harbin was one of the first performers to take magic from stage to screen, with a British TV performance as early as 1937. Among his trademark tricks was the Zig Zag Girl, in which the magician chops his delightful assistant into three pieces, only to have her emerge miraculously unscathed.
In the 1950s, Harbin became interested in Japanese paper folding. His enthusiasm was shared by a young art student who would soon become one of the most familiar faces on British television. In 1956 Harbin’s book, Paper Magic, complete with illustrations by Rolf Harris, catapulted origami onto the world stage.
But a young Japanese girl named Aadako Sasaki may well be the most famous paper-folder of all time, and she is surely the most inspiring. A survivor of Hiroshima, Aadako was diagnosed with leukaemia at the age of 12. An ancient Japanese legend states that a person who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish. Aadako set out to do this but did not have time to complete her task, making 644 before her death in 1955. But her friends finished the job for her, and when she was laid to rest these remaining cranes were buried with her. The crane is a creature of great mystical symbolism in Japan, and is said to live for a thousand years. Aadako’s life was tragically short by comparison, but her legacy lived on as her origami cranes were transformed into a symbol for peace in the world.
