Symbols used in

the Origami
mountain double

Bend forward double three

dimensional
valley double
Bend back

As seen in the line in the

figure

Unfold Put your finger between them

sides

Fold and unfold

Cut with scissors

Bend back

Fold in this direction

Flip the figure

► Fold twice

Fold in half on both sides

 ORIGAMI
" Origami ", is the Art of folding paper,
comes from the Japanese words " ori "
which means folding, and " gami " which
means paper.

An ancient art, it gave rise to Origami,

due to the existence of paper, invented
by the Chinese in the 19th century. II
AD... At that time Japan was a
developing country, and they adopted
almost everything from the Chinese,
from the social structure, Buddhism as a
religion, writing and craft techniques.
Only in the 7th century AD, the paper
technique was known in Japan, a
century later it was known by the Arabs
and much later by Europe in general.

Akira Yoshizawa's first book, "Atarashi

Origami Geijutsu", ("New Art of Paper
Folding") was published, and it contains
the different familiar dotted lines for
valley and mountain folds.

Also in the summer of 1955, Gershon

Legman had Yoshizawa's first exhibition
in the West, in Amsterdam. Since then,
Yoshizawa was widely known in the
West for his system of dotted lines and
arrows for diagrams. An early print run of
Origami from 1958 announces the
Origami Center's decision exclusively to
employ the Yoshizawa system for all of
its diagrams.

The system of dotted lines and arrows,

was devised by Yoshizawa, this is a
great probability. The actual date would
have been 1950 or earlier. It was noted
that Honda has continued to use its "P"
symbol for its many books, including in
"The World of Origami" from 1965. Later,
Robert Harbin introduced the pumpkin
fold, petal fold, rabbit ear, etc. In "Paper
Magic" in 1956. But even though he then
knows about Yoshizawa, he didn't use
his dotted lines in the books. They were
designed by Rolf Harris, they were
freehand drawings. Shortly afterwards, in
private correspondence, Sam Randlett
and Robert Harbin agreed that it was a
comprehensive system of symbols and
terminology. These included the regular
bases and on these were given the now
familiar names of preliminary fold ,
water bomb base , blintz base, fish
base , bird base, frog base .

In the Dominican Republic, the first

Origami figures were made by Japanese
immigrants brought by Rafael Leónidas
Trujillo to work in the lands of Constanza
and Central Cibao. The towns where
these streams of immigrants settled
were: Bonao, Constanza, Jarabacoa and
others. With traditional Japanese
kindness, those farmers, in their
moments of relationship with the local
population, began to make and give
away Origami figures, which were
surprising for their impeccable beauty.
Some Dominicans learned to make
figures, but with no greater impact than
what they could express in their family
circles and communities. The teaching of
those first Origami figures to the
population that had contact with those
immigrants opens the Dominican chapter
of origami, a magic in paper figures.

What does Origami

encourage ?

Creativity
Imagination
 Patience
Concentration
Memory
Discipline
Cleaning
Sense of order
Esthetic
Modesty
Love
Generosity
Solidarity
Happiness of living
Self-esteem
Manual dexterity
Close up