In a world that is being taken over by commercial gizmos, it is a refreshing change to witness an exhibition that comprises simple, hand-made paper products. Such was the case recently, when the Japanese Consul General’s wife, Miyoko Nakano, displayed her attractive paper creations, revealing the immense scope of the ancient craft of origami and the vast variety of decorative and functional uses that it can be put to.

Although there is no doubt that the craft is ancient, there seems to be some confusion about its origin. In fact, no one really knows when and where origami was invented. Some historians argue that since the invention of paper is credited to Ts’ai Lun of China in AD 105, paper folding must have been invented soon after. Paper was introduced in Japan in the late sixth century by Buddhist monks, and paper folding was brought along with it.

In Japan, paper was considered an expensive commodity and was used in many forms, most notably in architecture. Certain origami models were incorporated into religious (Shinto) ceremonies. However, since there are no known Chinese records of paper folding, and since the oldest Japanese records date only to the 18th century, other historians claim that origami is definitely a Japanese invention. Regardless of its ultimate origin, Japan is recognised as the country that most fully developed the traditional art of origami.

The Japanese passed on their designs via oral tradition, with the recreational designs being passed from mother to daughter. Since nothing was ever written down, only the simplest designs were kept. The first written instructions appeared in 1797 with the publication of the Senbazuru Orikata (Thousand Crane Folding). Incidentally, the name origami was coined in 1880 from the words oru (to fold) and kami (paper). Previously, the art was called orikata (folded shapes).

Modern origami owes a great deal to the efforts of Yoshizawa Akira, a Japanese citizen. After centuries of people folding the same traditional models, Master Yoshizawa published books with completely new models starting in the early 1950s. Yoshizawa died in 2005 at the age of 94 and is still regarded as the grandmaster of origami.

Today, the craft is practiced by young and old alike. The recent exhibition held at the Japan Cultural Centre displayed a wide variety of attractive origami items. From an array of cranes – flapping and sitting ones – to boxes and Hina dolls and from Samurai caps, warriors and helmets to fish, insects, animals and birds, there was a mind-boggling array on display. There was also a display of beautifully and skillfully made pandas!

A favourite with many were the decorated balls. Made out of many small flower-shaped pieces joined together, the balls were colourful and put together in an attractive manner. There were also quaint chrysanthemum dishes, their slit-like openings barely large enough to accommodate little offerings.

Another extremely attractive exhibit was that of flowers. Nakano had created as close a look-alike as possible of flowers such as iris, morning glory and balloon flowers and placed them in vases for added effect. While most origami forms are created without using scissors, Nakano admits that for morning glory, she had to use scissors to cut the paper in circles, so as to get the perfect shape.

Not all the origami items were decorative, though. There was also a section on display called Orinoshi, gift wrapping, which entails the art of using folded pieces of paper and attaching them to a gift. Such wrapping is common at ceremonial events. To complement it is Mizuhiki, the art of using decorative strings on the gift wrapped items. Attractive chopstick holders, and Sanbolotteing (Japanese dishes with stands) used for arranging light items on them as well as star-shaped boxes were also exhibited to show the variety of utilitarian items that can be created out of origami.

Maybe, it’s time we, Pakistanis, also began to learn the craft to soothe our nerves and to teach us patience. It would definitely make our surroundings a lot more creative and interesting as well.