Origami kaikan, Tokyo

Origami, which is said to have originated in China, Japan, and Spain, is widely used in many countries, including Europe, as ORIGAMI. In recent years, its artistic side has been re-evaluated and its popularity abroad has increased.
The history of origami in Japan is said to have been the oldest in the Muromachi period, as it happened with ceremonies such as Noshi. It is surprising for Japanese people to have a shallow history. The Origami-kaikan distributes the charm of such historical origami to the world.
Origami such as “Tsuru”, which is paired with “Ritual Origami”, is called “playful Origami”. The origin of the playful origami in Japan was a request from the Ministry of Education to produce origami in 1885. The first Education Minister, Mori Arinori, used the experience of studying abroad in Europe and the United States to refer to the early childhood education guidelines of the German founder of the kindergarten, German Froebel. Frobel’s early childhood education consists of 20 toys, such as blocks, sewing, and play with sand, and one of them is “Origami,” which embodies “Tatami-ori.” And this private request for “Origami” production is the history of “Origami Kaikan”. The production request from the Ministry of Education was, at that time, Kobayashi Kosuke who learned the processing technology of Japanese paper in general, including “dyed paper business” in this area. The origami is a single color, about 3 cm square and about 5 cm square, and this is Japan’s first playful origami. Since then, Kobayashi Kosuke’s “dyed paper industry” has developed as a long-established Japanese paper “Yushima no Kobayashi” and later became the mother of this “origami kaykan”. And, as for the playful origami, the origami set which mixed the colors was released in the toy industry in the early Showa era, and it became the start of worldwide spread.
Many origami is displayed on the 1st and 2nd floor of the Origami Kaikan. Please thoroughly enjoy Cool Japan “ORIGAMI” with the delicate technique and elegantly formed origami.

The place of transmission of Japanese paper culture

Origami which can be said to be one of traditional Japanese culture. It is said that the origin of origami in the present form is the Edo period. Here, in “Origami kaikan”, you can enjoy the world of Japanese paper focusing on origami, such as ritual “Orikata” (folding form) of samurai transmitted from the Muromachi era, “Play origami” which was popular since the Meiji era, torn-paper picture using “Chiyogami” (Japanese paper with colored figures), Japanese paper crafts etc. The charm of the origami, which can enjoy from children to the aged 100 years old, lies in the varied expressive power that an endless formulation is born from a single piece of paper.
The beginning of the Origami-kaikan (paper folding hall) was that the founder who was a Japanese paper craftsman established the factory of the colored paper. It is known as the place of transmission of Japanese paper culture, and origami culture.

The event for children is held

There is the classroom of origami, Japanese paper industrial arts, Japanese paper doll, and the event for children is held in summer vacation, too.
“Yushima no Kobayashi”, the Edo Japanese paper and colored paper shop is established in 1858, and you can enjoy Japanese paper culture including origami here. You can observe the gallery of a mezzanine and dyeing place which producing a Japanese paper of the hand dyeing.
It is the gallery installed in mezzanine that can appreciate the charm of various origami closely. There, various works of origami and Chiyogami are exhibited. Traditional motifs such as Origata and other ceremonial things and shapes of animal and field flowers are displayed on the wall.

The skill is just like magic

The work of classrooms such as the origami is on the first floor, and various paper work or Japanese paper are seen in the shop of third-floor. With luck, you can see Kazuo Kobayashi who is the director of this place folding origami. His work is created one after another, and the skill is just like magic.

The originality only in Japan

The origami which features the infinite possibility that various form is brought by one piece of the square paper. The originality only in Japan is felt.

The industrial arts with the Japanese paper

That is just as Director Kobayashi says, “it is to know the Japanese culture to make origami”, the origami which has the Japanese beauty and a lot of history is industrial arts with the Japanese paper.

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