Origami Theory

folding Pent/Hexagons
Van Goubergan's Curler units

analysing origami (John Smith)
the Yoshizawa exhibition in Kyoto
folding 45 degrees
folding 30 and 60 degree angles
origami & catastrophe theory
the Miura-ori map
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Folding optimal polygons
by David Dureisseix
I have looked at various ways of folding the "optimal" pentagon & hexagon (the largest regular hexagon within
a square of paper). Additive constraints are a mathematically exact construction, a finite number of operations
(no iterative method) and, of course, a folding sequence as simple as possible.
Hexagon
1. The corner B comes in B' on the medium vertical line. This allows us to built the intersection F of the
fold AE with the diagonal BD. Reverse the model.
2. Fold D onto F.
3. Resuming the construction to get the optimal hexagon is also easy.
Pentagon
The goal is now to fold a regular pentagon, as large as possible, within a square of paper. In origami
geometry, there exists a lot of techniques to fold an approximate pentagon. Much less are concerned with
exact pentagon, andmailto:[email protected]
only one about optimal pentagon: R. Morassi, The elusive pentagon, in the proceedings
of the First International Meeting of Origami Science and Technology, H. Huzita, editor, Ferrara, pp. 27- 37,
1989. The one proposed More herein is much simple.
current users than licensed!
1. fold AD onto AB where D is the middle of the edge in order to build C. is the golden
ratio.
2. bring C on the horizontal mid-crease.
3. bisect the complementary angle.
4. bisect again and mark the diagonal BE.
5. bisect again. I goes on J.
6. half way: B goes on J. Unfold.
7. & 8 complete the stellated pentagon.

Curler Units
Use small squares (max 7x7 cm) of stiff paper. Ordinary origami paper is too thin, but photocopy paper
works very well. Make a waterbomb base and curl each of the flaps into a cone. As shown in the top
view, all flaps are curled clockwise (left-handed folders may find it easier to work from a mirror image of
these diagrams - sorry!)
The paper should stay curled up as

indicated (that's why you need heavier
paper) so initially you'll need roll up the
flaps a bit tighter than shown in the
drawings as the curls will open out
slightly when you let go.
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the units,
gently ease one curl inside another curl. You can combine 2,
3, 4, 5... curls this way to create many-armed vortexes. You
can think of a 3-vortex as a triangle, a 4-vortex is a square
and so on. Combining the curls of a number of these units
into vortexes you can make several different polyhedra.
The final drawing (below) shows a cuboctahedron. For this,

you'll need 12 units. Join 3 units in a 3-vortex. Join the curls along the 3 edges of this "triangle" and add
more units to make each of these linked curls into a 4-vortex.
Continue building the cuboctahedron until you run out of units. Take
care never to put more than one curl of a unit in the same vortex. If you
lose track of the curls, just remember that each square is surrounded by
4 triangles and each triangle is surrounded by 3 squares.
If this explanation doesn't

work for you, try the
diagrams at the right. First
you join 3 units in a sub-
assembly (which we simplify to
a "curly triangle") and then join
4 of these sub-assemblies as
indicated in the big drawing on
the right. The arrows and
numbers indicate how many
curls are joined at each
position.
Further experiments : To make

an icosidodecahedron (which
consists of 3-vortexes and 5-vortexes) you'll need 30 units. Construction is similar to the cuboctahedron
but here each pentagon is surrounded by 5 triangles and each triangle is surrounded by 3 pentagons.
When you make constructions with this many units, it's a good idea to make the curls a little tighter (and
looser if you use less units, though such sparse assemblies are not as attractive and stable. The 6-unit
octahedron, for instance, is rather fragile because the curls are overstretched).
You can construct other polyhedra this way (obvious candidates are the (small) rhombicuboctahedron
and the (small) rhombicosidodecahedron) but only if there are exactly 4 faces meeting at every corner
(vertex) of the polyhedron. This is because the waterbomb base has exactly 4 flaps !
If you really want to make polyhedra with 3 faces meeting at the corners you could put 2 curls of a unit in
the same vortex or tuck away the fourth flap inside the waterbomb base or just leave 1 curl unconnected
(if there is enough room in the vortex) but none of these solutions are very elegant.
To make the icosahedron (which has 5 faces meeting at each corner) we

just leave a hole where the 5th face should go. As it's quite tricky to
assemble, here's another diagram to help you. You use the same 4 sub-
assemblies as for the cuboctahedron, but put them Figure 1 together in a
slightly different way. The resulting figure is strangely irregular : it looks a
bit like an icosahedron but not quite. The "holes" are pulled further apart
than the "filled" triangular faces so the modular only has tetrahedral
symmetry (and is inmailto:[email protected]
fact closely related to the snub tetrahedron).
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Here you see a strange current
property users
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assemblies licensed!
curls act as tiny
rubber bands pulling the units together, so that the structure settles at an
equilibrium position where the tension in all the curls is minimal (which is usually, but not always, quite a
regular configuration).
For the adventurous : A 4-unit tetrahedron is just possible. 3 curls of each unit are joined in 2-vortexes
along the tetrahedron's edges, the fourth is unconnected. Or try the 18-unit deltoidal icositetrahedron. All
curls are joined in 3-vortexes and those corners of the icositetrahedron where 3 faces meet are left as
holes. That's why we only need 18 units instead of 26. Make a 24-unit snub cube, either leaving the 6
square faces as holes or leaving 8 triangular faces as holes (choose those triangles not sharing any
edges with the squares)
I haven't experimented with colours : I prefer working in white

as the shadows on the curved surfaces show up better. If you
want to have a go you could try folding your waterbomb bases
from pre-coloured squares with a light-dark pattern as shown in
the figures on the right. The cuboctahedron will then have
triangular vortexes in one colour and square vortexes in the
other (this works for the icosidodecahedron as well). If you
don't like using pre-printed patterns, get duo paper, blintz it and
then fold the blintzed triangles to create the colour pattern you want to experiment with.
Herman Van Goubergen

Origami Profiles
by John Smith
1 Defining Origami
Recent attempts to define Origami have prompted me to reconsider the problem as one in which the
individual's view of Origami itself constitutes a definition. By showing the individual's view as a graphic
profile one can see how such common ground there is amongst folders. This seems a more fruitful
approach than trying to supply an authoritative definition.
2 The method
The idea is to provide a diagram which shows towards its centre the 'purest' form of Origami and
indicates ways in which this limited pure form can be changed to increase the range of effects or
technical opportunities. On this diagram a line can be drawn within which the acceptable variations for
an individual will lie.
3 'Pure' Origami
The term 'pure' is not meant as a judgement but simply to express the restriction of material and
techniques to the minimum from which variations are most easily shown. In its most limited form only the
technique of folding should appear - without this we should have no Origami. Clearly the material used
should be capable of being folded and retaining a fold. Since we wish to choose a minimum we should
demand that our material is of a single colour only , i.e.. that all effects must be achieved purely by
folding. Of all the shapes we can choose the most fundamental and simplest is to be preferred. A circle
does not sees to me really acceptable because Origami involves straight line folding. I prefer a square
which is the first fully symmetric even-cornered regular figure and in many ways the most elementary of
the perfect figures.
Thus I shall use a square of single colour as the centre of my chart - it would not change matters very
much to use a circle or triangle but I prefer the simplicity of the square.
4 Changing from
Morethe pure users
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We can distinguish 8 ways in which the centred method of folding (the 'pure' form) can be varied. These
are shown in Diagram 1 and will only be briefly defined here.
● Shaping. - the outline of the paper is varied.

● Slitting. - cuts are used.
● Supporting. - additional materials are used to hold or change the shape of the final model.
● Multilayers. - 2 or more sheets of material are folded together; in the final model the separate
layers are used to create special effects.
● Multi Sheets. - the model consists of 2 or more separate sheets which are each folded and then
brought together for the final model.
● Lengthening. - the Square is 'stretched' in one direction, that is it becomes a rectangle and so
on.
● Decorating. - the Square is textured or patterned either before or after the creation of the model.
● Modelling. - this applies to 3D models where the material is held in curves by special
techniques.
5 The changes and the arts and crafts involved

We can now consider in detail the physical changes involved in each of the 8 ways defined and the art
concerned. At some point or other an individual will no longer consider that the art involved is Origami
and hence that would be a boundary for his or her profile..
Diagram 1 also showshttp://www.aloaha.com
the results graphically of moving away from the 'purest' form of Origami in each of
the eight directions. In some cases I have marked the art as 'open-ended', for example paper-cuts. By
this I mean that we no longer have a closed system typical of Origami in which a procedure exists to
create a model andMore current
can return users
to the starting than
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It is arguable that it is the closed-system through
which can somehow break, that is the real characteristic of Origami.
Shaping
Regular figures such as triangles, pentagons are well established for Origami. Kent du Pre (4) has done
such work on Symmetric figures such as stars from which flowers can be folded. Irregular figures have
appeared occasionally, but the most extreme form occurs in Paper Magic (1) with Rolf Harris's models.
Silhouettes (2) have no restrictions in the Origami sense and are of course closely related to paper
cutting.
In its simplest form cuts are made prior to folding in a symmetric and planned way which will 'open up'
the material available without the need for excessive thickness. The most recent mention of the
techniques is by Toshie Takahama who refers to it as Kirikomi and distinguishes it as typical of very
early Japanese Origami. (3). Uchiyama is reported (5) as receiving a patent in 1908 for 'KOKO'. style
origami which appears to be the same in concept.
Japanese books are full of slitting to achieve ears or a tail or even legs. Perhaps one of the most
celebrated examples of theme 'slits to avoid folding' is in Fred Rohm's Circus pony (6) in which 2 cuts
are made, one for the ears and the other to give enough points for the legs. Rohm folded his Circus
pony without cuts but the technique is then much more complex. Thus we have 2 motives for cutting
appearing here; one to create new opportunities and the other to avoid the complexities of a model
achieved solely by folding. The cutting out of holes etc. to indicate eyes and so on is sometimes found in
Japanese books and we are obviously dealing with a technique which is becoming open-ended.
When we fold in a symmetric way to prepare our paper for cutting the folding has obviously become
secondary (2). Honda has called this kind of paper-craft Mon-Kiri (which means crest-making) (7). The
last step in the slitting or cutting is paper-cutting, some of the finest examples are probably from China
and clearly here we have an open-ended Art form (8).
Supporting
A way of moving away from the 'pure' central form is that of supporting or adding display mechanics to
the models. In its simplest form we may use glue , staples or 'blue tac' to hold a model in the desired
pose and position. Or we may use wiring or card.
The most unusual form of 'display mechanics' that I am familiar with is by Toyoaki Kawai (9). In a corner
of the Livelihood Industry Pavilion at EXPO' 70, electricity was used to make Origami pigeons flap their
wings.
Modelling
It is now usual in animal folds to call for a final modelling particularly when foil has been used and one
can be sure of the material remaining in place. A modern example of this is in Pat Crawford's models
(10). Neal Elias who probably led the move in the West to 3D insists on any modelling following the
folding (11)
The technique of wetting the paper appears to be Japanese in origin was demonstrated by Yoshizawa at
a Convention in Birmingham (12). Another method of wet moulding using paste in the preparation is
discussed by Alice Gray (13) she was shown it by Yoshizawa during a visit to Japan. The folds tend to
be soft and we are approaching sculpture rather than Origami.
In the most extreme combinations of water and paper we are, of course, in the world of papier-mache
which is clearly an open-ended art.
Decorating
The simplest step from a single colour is one side coloured and one white or plain. A great deal of
modern Origami exploits this colour difference. A delightful example is Joan Homewood's Robin (14).
We can use the texture of our material which need not even be foil or paper. Neal Elias collects
patterned foil and has shown models in 3 colours which depend upon choosing the right pattern and
cutting his material to get the colour exactly where he wants them.
A more restricted form of decoration occurs in Japanese papers which are already printed with a design
suitable for a special model. The end of this process is evidently the decoration of the final model and
thus into the decorative art proper which is open-ended.
Lengthening
By stretching our square we obtain rectangles then ribbon and finally string. The associated arts are
Weaving and Macrame which are open-ended. However with string we can have 'Cats Cradles' which is
a closed-systems game with direct analogies to Origami.
Multi-layer
Toshie Takahama has produced some superb examples of this variation of Origami (3). The sheets of
paper are folded together but usually opened at the end to show the multi-layers usually with different
colours.
In flower folding and possible doll-making the multi-layer technique is exploited for its own sake with little
or no folding involved.
Multi-Part
Isao Honda (15) was probably the first to publish techniques involving 2 separate sheets of paper each
folded to represent some part of the animal and then brought together. The idea may well be traditional;
if not in the way Honda uses it - see for example the Pagoda in Paper Magic (1). Recently kits have
appeared for folding a dragon from a number of squares of different sizes.
Probably the next step in this direction involves in collage using Origami objects. See Takahama (15 16)
for some beautiful examples. Clearly we are now in an open-ended art.
Profile Diagram
The previous diagram is condensed
and presented on the form on the right.
It is on this that we can draw our
profiles. To make the profile as clear as
possible a circle has been drawn at the
centre and this is the minimum value of
the particular characteristic and this
defines the 'purest' form of paper-
folding. Here is my profile as an
illustration and not with any claim that
my view of origami is the 'right' one.
The line is drawn so that the steps
inside the ring are those that I would
normally accept as Origami from my
point of view.
1. I not consider cutting to be paper-folding so my profile line goes to the centre boundary.
2. I dislike the artificiality of using non-folding means of supporting or presenting a model so again
my line follows the centre boundary.
3. I am willing to accept modelling but prefer it to be induced by folds (Curio) and not made by
wetting, so the line is a little way from the centre circle.
4. With regard to shapes I am happy with triangles but very rarely consider polynomials with more
than 4 sides.
5. Rectangles seem sensible to me but I mainly use A4, I am not very happy with using tape. Using
the different colours or patterns on the two sides of my paper is wholly acceptable provided
these are not specific to a particular model.
On the left below I give a profile of Origami in its earlier days in Japan. On the right I suggest a diagram
which might be the view of a keen modular folder
Now
have
some
fun and on the diagram provided draw your own profile. I look forward to your comments via e-mail.
John. S. Smith.
Bibliography. (nb. numbers are those appearing in the text)

Title & Publisher
(1) Paper Magic by Robert Harbin - Oldbourne Press.
(2) Cut Paper Silhouettes & Stencils by Christian Rubi - Kays and Ward.
(3) Creative Life with Creative Origami II. by Toshie Takahama - Tokyo.
(4) The Origamian Vol 6 issue 2 - Origami Centre USA
(5) The Origamian Vol 4 issue 1 - Origami Centre USA
(6) Secrets of Origami by Robert Harbin - Oldbourne Press.
(7) Mon-Kiri by Isao Honda - Japan Trading Pub.
(8) Chinese Paper-Cut pictures by Nancy Kwo - Academy Editions.
(9) Origami by Toyoaki Kawai - Color Books (Hoikusha)
(10) Origami a step-by-step guide by Robert Harbin - Hamlyn.
(11) British Origami No 24 1971 - BOS
(12) British Origami No 37 1972 - BOS
(13) The Origamian Vol l3 issue 2 - Origami Centre USA
(14) More Origami by Robert Harbin - Hodders paperbacks
(15) The World of Origami No2 by Isao Honda - Blanford Press.
(16) Creative life with Creative Origami by Toshie Takahama - Tokyo.

The Art of Akira Yoshizawa
an exhibition of his work at Kyoto, Japan
27th April to 7th May, 2000
by David Lister
The Background.
I still find it hard to believe that it happened. On the 30th March, the day before
I was about to go away on holiday, I received, entirely unexpectedly, a fax from
Mr. Akira Yoshizawa inviting me to go to Kyoto in Japan to attend the opening
of his exhibition to celebrate his eighty-eighth birthday. After my initial reaction
that in the circumstances this would be quite impossible, I hastened to see my
travel agent that afternoon and to my surprise, was able to book a flight from
my local airport to Osaka via Amsterdam on the 26th April. There was just time
to send a return fax to Mr. Yoshizawa before we set off early the next day to
spend two weeks on the Island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
I had been aware that Yoshizawa had held his great exhibition to celebrate his
life's work last October at the Matsuya Department Store in the Ginza in the
centre of Tokyo, but, much as I should have liked to have been there, it had
not been possible and I had let the opportunity pass, hoping that possibly I
should see the catalogue. The possibility that the exhibition might move to
other cities in Japan had not occurred to me. Still less did it occur to me that I
might receive an invitation to visit Kyoto from Yoshizawa himself. I count it a
very great http://www.aloaha.com
honour to have been invited.
I first cameMore current

to know users than
about Yoshizawa licensed!
and his paperfolding many years ago in
1958, when I read in Robert Harbin's "Paper Magic". Robert Harbin quoted
Gershon Legman as saying that Akira Yoshizawa was "far and away the
greatest folder in the world and devoted to this delicate and graceful art form to
an extent which it is hardly possible to believe". Subsequently I acquired
copies of Yoshizawa's books and actually met him when he visited England in
October,1972 to attend a meeting of the British Origami Society. At the time I
was Chairman of the Society and got to know Mr. and Mrs. Yoshizawa well.
Several other meetings followed including at the Second Intenational Meetig of
Scientific Origami at Otsu, to the north of Kyoto in 1994 and another at Munich
in Germany in October, 1995. Yoshizawa came to England again in 1983 and
1997. Another time I met him was when he came to Paris Origami in March
1998, where his work was shown in that great exhibition alongside that of
many others of the leading folders of the whole world. Each meeting gave me
an opportunity to see a small display of his work and also to interview him in
my effort to obtain information about his life-story and how he came to be a
paperfolder. I was eventually able to write two articles about Yoshizawa and
how he developed his paperfolding skills for "British Origami" in 1998 and
1999.
It is true to say that Yoshizawa has distanced himself from other Japanese
paperfolders. He has strong views about the nature of folding and in particular
holds that paperfolding should be something more than merely a geometrical
and technical accomplishment. For him, paperfolding should represent the
animal or bird as a living creature as closely as possible. Over many years he
has made repeated visits all over the world sponsored by the Japan
Foundation to encourage the study of paperfolding among children and adults
alike. He has held frequent exhibitions in Japan and has written many books
about folding. His most recent visit abroad was to Oman in March of this year,
a remarkable venture for a man of eighty-eight years.
I have often likened him to the guitarist, Andres Segovia, who was similarly self-
taught and who transformed the art of the classical guitar out of all recognition
both by revolutionising its technique and by extending its repertoire. So
Yoshizawa transformed the art of origami from a somewhat stilted paper craft
which used extensive cutting to what is an art form in every sense. His first
achievement was to break out of the limitations of square paper by developing
the possibilities of the bird base. For a time he obtained the necessary "points"
to depict an animal with four legs, a head and a tail by using two squares of
paper. At first his first models were flat, but they soon became three
dimensional. Whereas his early models often had split backs, he quickly
discovered how to fold his animals with rounded, closed backs. He originated
the technique of wet folding, which enabled him to mould his models, so that
his folding became a kind of sculpture. He also learnt to use the more
advanced bases that we know in the West as "blintzed" bases. These provided
him with an adequate number of "points" and freed him from having to use two
squares of paper for his animals. While Yoshizawa's techniques have
remained relatively simple and he has eschewed what have been called
technical or complex folding techniques, his art has nevertheless developed in
technique mailto:[email protected]
over the years. We have seen, too, how, apart from his technique,
his artistic and creative skills have developed and matured.
Yoshizawa's first introduction to the Japanese public was in the Japanese
picture magazine Asahi Graf for January 1952, in which he presented a series
of figures of the Japanese Zodiac. He had previously held a small display of
his work at the Utsunomiya Education Hall in 1950, in connection with a
teachers' conference but his first major exhibition was in the Ginza in 1955,
sponsored by Tokyo Electric Power. Meanwhile, in 1953, by an unexpected
stroke of good fortune, he was discovered for the West by Gershon Legman,
an American who was just about to leave the United States to go to live in
France. Gershon Legman was able to arrange for an exhibition of Yoshizawa's
models at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam in the autumn of 1955.
Yoshizawa sent to him the models that had been displayed at his exhibition in
the Ginza. In 1956, Robert Harbin's book, "Paper Magic", which quoted a letter
from Gershon Legman, spread the news of Yoshizawa's remarkable
paperfolding throughout the English-speaking world. At that time an interest in
paperfolding was newly emerging in the West and enthusiasts quickly learned
about Yoshizawa and his new way of folding. They included Lillian
Oppenheimer of New York, the founder of the Origami Center. She made
Yoshizawa a vice-president of the Center and in April 1959 she travelled to
Japan to visit him.
In May, 1959 the Cooper Union Museum of New York put on an exhibition of
paperfolding with the title "Plane Geometry and Fancy Figures" and through
the agency of Mrs. Oppenheimer the work of Yoshizawa was included.
Gershon Legman sent Yoshizawa's creations from the exhibition at the
Stedelijk Museum and Yoshizawa sent more models direct. So, by good
fortune, almost from the beginning Yoshizawa's work has been known in the
West as well as in Japan. Since then he has held many more exhibitions of his
work in Japan and the rest of the world. Now we are forty years on and to
celebrate his eighty-eighth birthday, which, because of the symbolic meaning
of the characters for 88, is a specially important landmark in Japan he has
celebrated his lifetime's achievement by holding the greatest exhibition of them
all, first in Tokyo and then in other Japanese cities, including Kyoto.
Perhaps it is appropriate here to pay tribute to the important contribution that

Mrs. Kiyo Yoshizawa has made to her husband's work. They married in 1956,
just at the time when his work was beginning to be recognised. Since then she
has accompanied him on many tours throughout the world and has helped him
in so many ways, by acting as his manager, by helping to set out his
exhibitions, by teaching and making speeches on his behalf and, as I have
good reason to know, by welcoming his guests. She has removed much of the
tedious burden of organisation from him Mr. Yoshizawa has been most
fortunate in having beside him such a devoted partner.
My Visit to Kyoto.
After a twelve-hour over-night flight from Amsterdam I arrived at Kansai
Airport, constructed on an artificial island in the Bay of Osaka at 8.30 am on
Thursday, 27th April. Against my expectation, I was met by Mr. Yoshizawa's
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and we tookusers than train
the express licensed!
to Kyoto where we were met and
driven by car to the Sun Hotel in the centre of Kyoto, where a room had been
booked for me. For all its historical reputation and the many temples and
shrines scattered throughout the city, Kyoto is very much a modern city,
thronged with crowds of people and with streets of taxis, cars and buses
seemingly in a perpetual gridlock. That afternoon, I met Mrs. Jean Baden-
Gilette, the President of Origami USA who was also a guest of Mr. Yoshizawa
and we were taken the short distance to the Takashimaya department store at
the busy cross-roads in the centre of Kyoto where the exhibition was being
held. Takashimaya at Kyoto is one of the great department stores of the world,
very extensive, spacious and very elegant. We took the lift to the seventh floor
and to the entrance to the exhibition. I was asked to sign the visitors' book, the
first entry not in Japanese, and then I had my first sight of the exhibition, being
first confronted by two large flying dragons and a large and impressive model
of Godzilla. I began looking round, but before long a lady came up to me,
asked me my name and I was taken into a private room where Mr. and Mrs.
Yoshizawa were waiting for me and warmly greeted me. I was introduced to
other people, including Mr. Katsuji Tachikawa, the Cultural Projects Officer of
the Asahi Shimbun newspaper of Tokyo, who were the sponsors of the
exhibition and the manager of exhibitions for Takashimaya, who explained that
the promotion of artistic exhibitions in department stores was a tradition in
Japan. They had previously held an exhibition of the Impressionist paintings
from the Courtauld Collection of London and he generously presented me with
a copy of the sumptuous catalogue.
As we talked, we were joined by Giovanni Maltagliati, the secretary of Centro

Diffusione Origami, the Italian origami society and his wife, Gianna. We
presented our gifts and then went out to see the exhibition. I didn't expect to be
able to take photographs, but I thought it worth asking and was pleasantly
surprised to be given an armband which made me an official photographer,
and which would protect me from interference by the several smartly
uniformed security guards. Mr. Yoshizawa was full of life and we took the usual
group photographs, exchanging cameras so that everyone would have a
record of the occasion.
Then it was time for the celebration dinner held downstairs in the store's
luxurious restaurant. Far from being Japanese, the meal was of French cuisine
with wines, and elegantly served. I and the other overseas guests were seated
with Mr. and Mrs Yoshizawa, and with two Japanese ladies who acted as very
capable interpreters. The other tables were occupied by about twenty
members of Mr. Yohizawa's International Paperfolding Society. Before the
meal, Mrs. Yoshizawa gave a short speech of welcome and I, followed by Jean
Baden-Gilette and GiovannI Maltagliati replied and said how honoured and
happy we were to be there. Mr. Yoshizawa presented all the guests with a
copy of the catalogue of the exhibition which he autographed for us. I was
seated opposite Mrs. Hiroko Ichiyama who had been a member of the staff of
Reader's Digest at the time of the publication of the article about Yoshizawa in
1970 and we were able to discuss how Leland Stowe came to write it and how
a longer preliminary version the article came to be printed in the Beacon
Magazine of Hawaii.
Our entertainment was far from over with the completion of the meal. The next
morning, Friday, we were taken by taxi to the Kensoin Buddhist Temple,
hidden away in the narrow streets of an obscure part of Kyoto. The overseas
guests were joined by a group of members of Yoshizawa's society. Here, the
priest in charge was the Revd. Msahiro Inui, a friend of Mr. Yoshizawa and a
cheerful friendly man. He greeted us in his dark blue robes as a Buddhist
priest and after we had removed our shoes he welcomed us into the worship
room of the temple. It was an impressive and sacred place with its ornate altar
illuminated on either side by cascades of white "fairy" lights on either side and
with a magnificent gilt chandelier suspended above. Mr. Yoshizawa knelt
devoutly before the altar and those who wished to do so were invited to burn
incense. We were then taken to another room at the back of the temple, where
we were seated in a square on cushions on the floor and Mr. Inui gave us an
account of the temple. In deference to his age, Mr. Yoshizawa was permitted
to sit on a chair. There followed a Tea Ceremony presented by a young lady in
a kimono. She was a teacher and had learnt the art from her mother. Several
other ladies who were associated with the life of the temple helped by carrying
bowls of tea to each of us. Later, we were then shown round the temple, which
was very different from the large temples we were subsequently to visit. These
were largely public monuments, but this was an active working temple, used
for regular worship and study and it had much the same atmosphere as a busy
working church in the West. There were two main buildings, one for worship
and formal meetings and one for living, with bedrooms, living rooms and
kitchens. They were of recent construction and as we were shown round, the
bosses at the ends of the main roof timbers were pointed out to us. They took
the form of fierce faces intended to frighten away evil spirits. We were told that
these were reproductions of a paper mask and that they had been specially
created by Yoshizawa. We later saw the paper original of this mask.
We were taken back to the meeting room for a "luncheon box " meal, as
always, tasty and fascinating and, of course, according to Buddhist tenets,
vegetarian. Unaccustomed to sitting back on my heels, I somehow managed to
fold up my western legs into a reasonably comfortable position which I was just
able to maintain. During the meal Mr. Inui presented each of us with a fine
coloured picture book of the temple, showing its construction, its dedication
and its activities.
Afterwards we were taken to other parts of the complex, including a large

library in the basement and a "mausoleum" room, lined with stepped shelves
where tokens and mementoes of deceased persons could be kept and where
they could be remembered. On the wall at the end of the room was an origami
figure of the goddess of mercy that Mr. Yoshizawa had folded for the temple.
Mr. Yoshizawa was clearly very devoutly attached to this temple in Kyoto, even
though he lives many miles away in the Tokyo area As we passed through the
burial ground which surrounded the temple, we noticed a plot marked as
reserved for him.
After lunch,mailto:[email protected]
Mr. Inui took us on a walking tour of the neighbourhood, passing
several small temples and shrines and one larger shrine, with the small garden
bright with More
spring current users
flowers and with than licensed!
an ancient Camellia tree about a hundred
years old. Temples are Buddhist, shrines are Shinto. Buddhism and Shinto
have different historical origins, but they co-exist and most Japanese people
adhere to both religions. We came to a stream which it was pointed out to us
was once used for making paper. Further on we passed a little shop where I
noticed some formally folded "noshi" wrappers on sale. We walked a long way
and I couldn't help admiring the way Yoshizawa staunchly kept up with the
tour, supported by Mrs. Yoshizawa, who held his hand. Eventually we crossed
a wide road and came to the entrance to a very large shrine set in a park. Two
large traditional stone komainu or lion-dogs lions guarded each side of the
entrance to repel evil. Here we parted company with Mr. and Mrs. Yoshizawa,
who returned to their hotel by taxi.
This was the Kitano Tenmangu Shrine. I was a big complex of buildings. We
walked up a wide path lined with statues, stone lanterns and small shrines and
under two gigantic torii, the typical Japanese square gates having a double
lintels cross the top. The torii mark the entrance to the sacred enclosure. We
entered the shrine proper through the roofed main entrance and we found a
cluster of buildings both large and small. What especially interested me were
the sacred shimenawa ropes which hung over the entrances to every shrine,
big or small. These mark the boundary between the sacred and the profane.
The shimenawa ropes had tied into them bundles of rice straw and o-shide,
the white papers cut and folded into zigzags that are another indication of the
sacredness of the place. If rocks and trees are considered sacred, they will
also have their own shimenawa with rice straw and o-shide tied round them.
Within the shrines we could often see a go-hei, which is a double o-shide
attached to the top of a wand. I understand that the go-hei signifies the
presence of the god. One of the buildings was a museum, full of fascinating
exhibits, to enter which we had, as usual, to remove our shoes.
The next day, Saturday we were taken on a coach trip round Kyoto, visiting
Higasahi Honganji, another large temple complex with two worship halls, one
of them of truly enormous dimensions. We also visited the Nijo Castle which is
where the Shogun stayed when he visited Kyoto. I was fascinated by the
corridors of the castle, the wooden floors of which were deliberately made to
squeak to warn of the presence of intruders. They were delightfully named the
"nightingale" floors and that is how they sounded as we walked along them.
We then went on to Kinkaku-Ji, the famous Golden Pavilion, which is overlaid

with gold leaf and shimmers across the lake in which it stands. It is set in an
exquisite garden, surrounded by shrines and subsidiary temples. From there
we were taken to a craft centre. Here we had lunch and had an opportunity of
touring the building massed with examples of Japanese workmanship. I was
most impressed by some
"used" kimonos, which were magnificent in their richness, colour and
workmanship, but I limited my purchases to a small "Moroccan" twisted purse
and some toothpicks dressed up as paper dolls.
On Sundaymailto:[email protected]
we were taken on a spectacular trip through a deep and narrow
wooded gorge, along the bottom of which ran the fast-flowing River Hazu. We
More current
travelled upstream users "toast-rack"
by an antique than licensed!
railway, going across bridges
and through several tunnels and able to look down on the river below. Our
return was even more spectacular and was in boats resembling sampans,
each one steered and rowed by three hard-working men. It was an exciting
journey down the cascading river, shooting the many rapids. Fortunately the
boats were stable and none of us got wet. At one point, where there was a
small station on the railway on which we had travelled, there were rows of
streamers in the form of carps strung across the river. They were in
anticipation of the coming Boys' Day which would be celebrated on 5th May.
Throughout Kyoto we saw flagpoles decorated with strings of carps, regarded
as the most valiant of fish. Downstream, a motor boat selling food drew up to
us and we A motor boat selling food drew up to us and we travelled linked to it
for a few minutes downstream while some people bought snacks and our
boatmen took a well-earned rest. The river widened and our boat trip came to
an end. The Harashiyama area we landed was a holiday area, busy with cafes
and souvenir shops. A feature of the area was the many smart modern
rickshaws with pneumatic tyres pulled by energetic young men and available
for hire. We visited a restaurant to enjoy an elegant lunch under the weeping
cherry trees in a pretty garden overlooking the river. During the afternoon, we
visited Tenryu-ji another temple with a lake set in a remarkably serene and
beautiful garden ablaze with spring blossom and then walked though a forest
of bamboos to see another small complex of shrines, before finding a place for
coffee and catching the bus back to the centre of Kyoto
Our formal visit came to an end on the Monday, when we again visited the
exhibition at Takashimaya and Mr. and Mrs. Yoshizawa entertained their
overseas guests to a farewell tea-party with some of the people who had
helped us in our visit. The Revd. Masahiro Inui was also invited. At first we
didn't recognise him because he had discarded his formal robes for civilian
dress with a colourful woollen sweater. It was another happy occasion at which
we ate tea and cakes, chatted with our new-found Japanese friends and took
many more photographs. Eventually it was time to go and we reluctantly took
leave of Mr. and Mrs Yoshizawa, deeply grateful to them for providing us with
such a unique and rewarding experience.
A Tour of the Exhibition.

The exhibition of Yoshizawa's paperfolding was set out in the exhibition hall on
the seventh floor of the Takashimaya department store. By any standards, it
was a large display hall, perhaps over eighty feet by thirty. Part of the
exhibition was displayed on tables protected by transparent plastic shields
rising about eighteen inches above the surface of the display table so that one
could look over them and see the models directly. Other parts of the exhibition
were displayed in fully glassed wall cases lining some of the walls and there
were more tall display cases along the centre of the hall.
After passing the two large flying dragons at the entrance, one passed through
a fairly narrow aisle and into the main part of the hall. At the far end of the hall
a large display case containing a very impressive panorama of the seasons
dominatedMore currentThis
the exhibition. users
wasthan licensed!
a landscape filed with origami figures which
started with spring on the left and shaded through summer and autumn to the
snow-covered landscape of winter on the right. The panorama presented a
wide diversity of scenes from Japanese country life in a landscape filled with
birds, animals and country people and with cranes flying above.
Turning round the end of the hall, between the panorama and the cases along
the middle and returning down the hall, one passed further large wall-cases
before coming to another narrower aisle where there were displayed the
models submitted by chosen overseas folders and also photographs of
significant events in Mr. Yoshizawa's life. At the end one was led through half-
curtains into the sales room where the staff of Takashimaya were doing a brisk
trade in everything directly or remotely connected with origami, including
books, videos, photographs, origami paper, paper dolls and formal "noshi"
envelopes. The mixture of traditional crafts and modern technology is
characteristic of the Japan of today.
By any measure, it was a very impressive exhibition with perhaps 2000 or

more origami models, all of them folded by Mr. Yoshizawa. There were two
exceptions to this: the small display of models by the overseas folders who
had been invited to the exhibition when it took place in Tokyo, and an Antarctic
scene in which penguins folded by members of the public during a lesson in
origami had been added to Yoshizawa's more advanced models.
Any visitor unacquainted with modern origami would be astonished by the

sheer magnitude and quality of Yoshizawa's folding. I managed to visit the
exhibition on several occasions and took notes of what particularly impressed
me. It had been well-publicised throughout Kyoto and I even saw an
advertisement in a train On each occasion I attended there were many visitors
thronging the hall and Yoshizawa was usually to be seen chatting to visitors
young and old and explaining his work. Undoubtedly it was a very successful
exhibition and I felt sad that it seemed unlikely that the exhibition would be
seen in the West. Unfortunately Origami is not an art form that is familiar to the
organisers of exhibitions in the West and without the resources of the
professional art world, it is difficult for amateurs to put on major exhibitions in
large western cities.
The models displayed were mostly of Mr. Yoshizawa's mature period, rounded
3D models with closed backs. Many were wet-folded , showing the plastic
moulding that this makes possible. Every kind of animal and bird was
represented and I can do no more than mention a few that caught my eye.
Near the entrance was a family of lions. The male lion was a proud creature,
though in a stylised heraldic way, resembling the lion "supporting" the coat of
arms at the head of the London Times newspaper. The lioness and her two
cubs were more naturalistic, a playfully relaxed family. Near them was an
impressive tiger impressively folded from subtly striped paper.
There washttp://www.aloaha.com
a whole group of gorillas and monkeys. They have been a favourite
subject of Yoshizawa for many years and he has published several diagrams
for them in his books. However, the published diagrams do not contain the
refinements More current
that make users for
it possible than licensed!
Yoshizawa to breathe life into his own
models. There were several diverse variants of the gorillas with impressively
fierce facial features. I liked, too, a group of hippopotamuses which
successfully caught the enormous bulk of the animals. I was amused, too, by
the heads of hippos shown as just projecting from the water, which is, in fact,
the way they are usually seen.
Among the birds, I particularly liked a pair of parrots. They were not just the
ordinary parrots that anyone else might fold, but lively, arguing parrots
engaged in a squawking quarrel. I can think of no other paperfolder who could
depict them in this way. The same case was dominated by Yoshizawa's
famous peacocks, one with a displayed tail of pleated paper and another
sitting on a branch, with a cascading tail. I liked too, the models of the black
and white Japanese Cranes, their heads crowned with scarlet. These are the
almost mythical birds which have been rescued from near extinction and which
gave rise to all the Japanese legends and symbolism of cranes. They were
justifiably shown on one of the posters of the exhibition.
Some of the groups of models, like those of sheep showed variants which
differed greatly in complexity from very simple, almost abstract designs to
complex wet-folded models that were more realistic such as a splendid ram
with massive coiled horns A whole collection of dogs, was folded so accurately
that their breeds could readily be distinguished.
I particularly liked two ferocious bulls about to charge each other and, in
contrast, a single hare sprawled out contentedly. One case contained insects,
exquisite jewels not very far removed from those of some of the Western
folders like Robert Lang and Alfredo Giunta who have specialised in this
miniature and tricky field.
By no means all of the models were of animals and birds. Yoshizawa began
his professional career with his series of Zodiac figures for Asahi Graf in 1952,
and he has not neglected this subject since then. One case contained no less
than three sets of Zodiac figures, each one quite different from the others. One
composition of which I have previously seen a photograph, I found very
impressive. This was of Romulus and Remus being suckled by the wolf, a re-
creation in paper of the famous statue in Rome.
Folding of inanimate objects is not what one associates with Yoshizawa. Yet
he has always folded them and very well, too. The Panorama of the Seasons
contained foldings of many man-made objects, which helped to make up the
picture. Another frequent feature was the framed origami pictures similar to
those which Yoshizawa sent to Florence many years ago for display in
connection with the Pinocchio origami competition. There were pictures of
scenes from Japanese folk tales and a charming composition of a group of
small birds sitting in a row along a branch. Each bird was an individual with a
personality of its own. Two sea horses set behind glass gave the appearance
of being under water. Inanimate objects I noticed included a cottage, a
ceremonialmailto:[email protected]
portable shrine, sheaves of rice set out on a frame to dry and a tiny
set of carpenter's tools. Spinning tops, too, are inanimate objects and they
More current
seem to fascinate users
Yoshizawa. than
There is alicensed!
whole collection of very diverse
forms.
Another kind of folding that one does not readily associate with Yoshizawa is
abstract folding. Yet here was a group of several abstract figures reminiscent
of what John Smith has called "curio folding" or "curve induced origami.
Another unusual concept for Yoshizawa was the folding of a series of paper
dolls on a stepped dais for the Girls' Festival on 3rd March. The dolls were
folded the traditional style and apparently used the cutting customary in this
style of folding. However, styles of paperfolding that were definitely foreign to
Yoshizawa's repertoire and absent from the exhibition were modular folding
and geometrical folding for the sake of geometrical folding.
A more familiar category of Yoshizawa's work is that of folding masks. He has

been folding convincing self-portraits ever since I have known of his work and
the exhibition contained yet another excellent self-portrait. There was also a
fearful mask of a devil which contrasted sharply with a serene and beautiful
mask of a Buddha. But the mask which appealed to me most and, indeed,
which I thought was the finest model in the whole exhibition was a strange
mask of a pathetic face, possibly based on a Noh mask. The folding used
Yoshizawa's traditional techniques, but at the same time, echoed of the masks
of Eric Joisel. I found it mysterious and haunting, a great contrast from
Yoshizawa's models of animals and the vision of it has continued to haunt my
memory.
The final section of the exhibition contained a number of photographs of

events from different periods in Yoshizawa's life. Most fascinating was a school
photograph taken in 1925 when he was aged 14. He had recently left home to
Tokyo to attend high school in Tokyo. Unfortunately he was unable to afford to
stay at the school for more than one year and he subsequently continued his
education by attending evening classes. Nearby, there was a collection of
books and papers of the greatest interest. they included copy of Yoshizawa's
first and least-known book, Atarashii Origami Geijutsu (The Art of Origami)
dating from 1954 and a collection of photographs and records from
Yoshizawa's exhibition at the Espace Pierre Cardin in Paris in 1984. Another
fold towards the final part of the exhibition that I particularly noticed was the
figure of the Goddess of Mercies, a replica of the one that we saw in what I
have termed the mausoleum room of the Kensoin Temple during our visit.
The exhibition concluded with the small displays from the five Western folders
who had been invited to attend the exhibition when it opened in October in
Tokyo and to submit just a few models. They were all folders whom Yoshizawa
felt to have helped to make known his folding throughout he world. They were
David Brill, the present chairman of the British Origami Society, Eric Joisel who
played such an important part in organising the Paris Origami exhibition,
Jonathan Baxter of the South Eastern Origami Festival in the United States,
Michael LaFosse, also of the United States and Carlos Pomaron of Zaragossa
in Spain. The portrait of each of them was shown, together with notes about
them in Japanese. Much as I sincerely admire their work which is displayed,
my own candid feeling was that the space allowed to these folders was too
More
restricted and thatcurrent users
the models than
shown by licensed!
them were not sufficient to illustrate
their undoubted skills as folders. But his was Yoshizawa's exhibition and
anything more might have detracted from the special character of the
exhibition.
So we passed beneath the curtain and back into the commercial world of the
Takashimya store.
The Yoshizawa Exhibition: An Assessment.
I came away from the Yoshizawa exhibition with a new perspective of

Yoshizawa's skills as a paperfolder and with a deeper admiration for his unique
achievement It is not often realised today just how great was the revolution
that he wrought in the art of paperfolding or just how much the transformation
of paperfolding from the middle of the 20th Century was due to him. He was
self-taught. He devised his own geometrical and folding techniques and single-
handedly transformed Japanese origami from a somewhat stilted , formal
pastime into what is truly an art form. Other folders were quick to build on the
foundations that he laid, particularly by extending the geometrical complexity of
folding, even to the extent of using computers to assist in the creation of
appropriate bases. Other folders have diverged from Yoshizawa's own folding
in other ways. They have used modular and multi-piece folding, geometrical
folding, tessellations, highly complex bases and "box-pleating" among many
other styles, As the Paris Origami exhibition showed, the world of Origami is
now very wide and diverse and has often taken directions of which Yoshizawa
has made it plain that he strongly disapproves.
Yoshizawa himself never uses complexity for the sake of complexity or merely
as a dazzling display of virtuosity. All his technique is employed as the servant
of his art and he has steadfastly held on to his spiritual approach to origami.
His own skills and techniques have continued to develop during his lifetime
and we have seen how he has adopted more complex bases which have
enabled him to fold four-legged creatures from single piece of paper and to
give them three-dimensional form and solid backs. He has developed his wet-
folding techniques, too. All of this has been directed to achieving a truer
likeness and a greater liveliness in his creations.
Yoshizawa fully accepts that whatever technique we use we can never achieve
by paperfolding a truly accurate reproduction of a creature. There has to be
stylisation and suggestion. But given this, it is remarkable how Yoshizawa
brings to life the creature he is folding. He has instructed us to look closely at
an animal to see how it is formed, to see its build, its underlying skeleton and
structure, how its limbs and muscles lie and the natural poses into which it
falls. He strives to avoid surplus creases and to ensure that the creases that
he cannot avoid emphasise the natural form of the animal. As a result, his
animals and birds have the appearance of life. More than that, he admonishes
us to try tomailto:[email protected]
get into the inner being of a creature, its character, expression,
emotions and humour. In other words, he tries to get into the very spirit of the
creature heMore current
is folding. users
It is in than
this way licensed!
that Yoshizawa surmounts the
mechanical technique of paperfolding and turns folding into art.
The overwhelming impression I have of Akira Yoshizawa is his devotion. It is

something of which I have slowly become very aware over many years.
Repeatedly he has said that he uses his hands to fold in the service of God
and he has often says that he hopes that his folding will help to bring peace to
the world. On many occasions I have seen him pray before settling down to
fold, Indeed, Yoshizawa has said how he studied Buddhism for two years
when he was a young man. But If I had needed any confirmation of his deep
and humble faith, I saw it during our visit to the Kensoin Temple.
For me, my visit to Kyoto has served to increase my understanding of

Yoshizawa's spiritual nature. Above all, Yoshizawa's is a spiritual art, which
has its roots in his deep personal faith. Call it what you will, all art is deeply
rooted in the spirit and if origami is to grow and develop as an art form,
whatever form that may be, it will necessarily follow Yoshizawa in the
approaches and attitudes pioneered by him and by adding something to the
folding process something more than the mere physical manipulation of the
paper
Yoshizawa has steadfastly pursued this personal approach to folding and his
exhibition shows that he has succeeded supremely. Whatever approaches
other paperfolders may have and whatever direction or directions paperfolding
my take in the future. Yoshizawa's personal achievement of eighty-eight years
has been immense. Whether or not origami would have grown and flourished
in the way that it has without Yoshizawa is a matter of conjecture. But the
historic fact is that Yoshizawa did transform paperfolding and origami will
always have its roots in Yoshizawa's achievement. Akira Yoshizawa has
secured his place as a giant of origami for all time.
David Lister
15th May, 2000, (revised 20th May, 2000)

© David Lister, 2000.

Folding angles of 45 and 90 degrees
by Nick Robinson
Here is one of the many methods of creating angles of 45 and 90, with non-raw sides. This design can
be used to teach many things; accuracy, geometry, folding techniques, combining polygons and will
serve practically as either a bookmark or a setsquare.

Folding angles of 30 and 60 degrees
by Ian Harrison
For those of us who fold paper regularly, creating angles of 90 and 45 degrees is almost second nature.
We create a right angle by folding an edge, or a crease, back on itself and we can bisect a right angle
(or any other angle) by placing the folds that form the two sides of the angle on top of each other. The
mathematics of folding angles of 60 or 30 degrees is only slightly more difficult to understand. (The other
angles that paperfolders - especially modular paperfolders - often need to construct are the angles of
108 and 72 degrees, useful in making polyhedra with pentagonal sides and other related forms.)
The method of constructing angles of 60 and 30 degrees by folding is based on the symmetry of an
equilateral triangle - one that 3 sides of equal length. To make the explanation clear we will use as an
example an equilateral triangle that has sides of 2 units long. We need to look at just one half of it.
The longest side of the right-angle triangle that forms this

half, its hypotenuse in the language of geometry, is one
side of the original triangle and is therefore still 2 units long.
The shortest side of the triangle - at the bottom in the
diagram - is half the length of one of the original sides and
is therefore only 1 unit long. This ratio of 2:1 between the
sides is the key to constructing this kind of triangle - and
conequently the angles of 60 and 30 degrees - by folding
paper. (For those of you familiar with Euclidean geometry,
this is a triangle described by the condition 'right-angle,
hypotenuse and side' which is a condition for congruence.)
The diagrams below show the classic way to fold an angle

of 60 degrees in the middle of the top edge of a rectangle.
To do this, first crease the paper in half to mark the centre-
line, then fold the left hand edge to the centre-line to crease the left hand half of the paper into two
quarters. (Look at the diagrams - it's easier!) To form the triangle -shown shaded - swing the far top
corner across to the quarter way fold, making sure the crease starts at the centre line.
The shaded triangle is an example of the half-equilateral triangle described above. It has a longest side -
hypotenuse - of half the length of the top edge of the paper, and a shortest side of one quarter of the
length of the top edge of the paper. This creates the ratio of 2:I we are looking for.
The fact that the angle of the shaded triangle at the centre of the top edge
is 60 degrees means that the angle next to it along the edge (it's
supplement) is 120 degrees, and this is bisected by the fold that we have
made. By folding the left hand top corner over to lie along the first folded
edge we can create 3 equal angles, each of 60 degrees, at the centre of
the top edge.
Folding the other corner across, so that two raw edges lie along each other, bisects the angle of 60
degrees into two angles of 30 degrees each. Of course, we don't have to make the angle of 60 degrees
first. We can simply swing the left hand top corner to the quarter way fold (the third diagram below).
Again the shaded triangle has the crucial 2:1 ratio between its longest and shortest sides. This time the
angle in the triangle at the centre of the top edge is 30 degrees, so the angle next to it, along the edge to
the left (its complement) is 60 degrees, and again, this angle is bisected by the fold that we have made.
With small modifications to these ideas we can fold an angle of 60 or 30 degrees at a corner, or at the
centre of a square, like this:

Origami & Catastrophe Theory
by Leong Chen Chit
In flat folding, the folds of a model and the model itself are collapsible onto a flat surface. However,
some folds, normally formed towards the end, cannot be collapsed onto a plane without having to create
additional folds. Examples are the crimp fold and the fold at a corner of a cube model. Whether the folds
and the model itself are collapsible or not, the fold lines are straight. In the case of the crimp fold, the
fold lines and the surface or surfaces formed by the fold may be curved. The current origami terminology
is inadequate for curved 3D origami folds. A convenient and practical way is to borrow the terms applied
to the manifolds of Catastrophe Theory, a branch of mathematics.
In Catastrophe Theory, manifolds are used to explain sudden changes in the course of an event due to
shifts in environmental factors. The first four catastrophe geometries are 1. Fold, 2. Cusp, 3. Swallowtail,
and 4. Butterfly catastrophe. Without going into the mathematics of their geometry, we need only to
observe that the Cusp manifold has one cusp point, which is the point of coming together of two folds in
a sharp spikelike intersection. The Swallowtail manifold has two cusp points and the Butterfly manifold
three. See diagram.
We can translate the first four manifolds of Catastrophe Theory into origami folds. The first one, the Fold
manifold, is the equivalent, in flat origami, of the mountain/valley fold. It has no cusp point. The second
catastrophe geometry, the Cusp manifold, is the equivalent, in flat folding, of the reverse fold; third, the
Swallowtail manifold, is the equivalent of the double reverse fold; and fourth, the Butterfly manifold, the
triangular sink fold.
In 3D folding, the fold line of the Fold manifold takes the form of a curve. The fold itself cannot be
collapsed onto a plane. Similarly, the 3D paper folding equivalents of the Cusp, Swallowtail and Butterfly
catastrophes are made up of curved folds and cannot be collapsed onto a flat surface. The origami 3D
Cusp fold has one cusp, the Swallowtail 2 cusps, and the Butterfly 3 cusps.
Discounting the somewhat trivial Fold fold, the first three basic folds of 3D origami are, therefore, the
Cusp fold, the Swallowtail fold and the Butterfly fold. We can also regard the Swallowtail, Butterfly and
higher order 3D folds as combinations of Cusp folds in the same way that flat folds may be regarded
combinations of reverse folds. See Diagram.
The use of 3D folds extends the scope of origami
and enhances it as an art form. Combining 3D
with flat folds produces origami models with less
angular and more sculpture-like look. 3D folds are
incorporated in several of my origami models,
such as the dog bust, right.
Cheers!
Cheng Chit

The Miura-Ori map
by Ian Bain
Folded maps are merciless to the user who makes the slightest error in returning them to their compact
form. Pt the Tokyo ICA meeting Koryo Miura and Masamori Sakamaki from Tokyo University's Institute
of Space and Aeronautical Science demonstrated an application, of space science, combined with a
little Origami, which transforms the ergonomics of map folding.
Miura and Sakamaki normally work on the problems of packing

large flat items, like satellite antennae and solar collectors, into
the smallest, most compact shapes with a view to deploying them
as rapidly and as simply as possible. They saw three problems
with naps folded at right angles in the conventional manner. First,
an orthagonally-folded map requires an unduly complicated
series of movements to fold and unfold it. Secondly, once
unfolded there is a strong possibility that the folds may be
"unstable" and turn inside out. Finally, right-angled folds place a
lot of stress on the paper inducing, almost without exception,
tears which begin where two folds intersect.
The key to an alternative system of may folding lies in the ancient

Japanese art of paper-folding, origami. One of the most common
origami effects is to use a variant on concertina folding to
produce a slightly ridged surface composed of a series of
congruent parallelograms, by a variation on concertina folding.
Miura and Sakamaki looked at this kind of surface in terms of its

geometry and elasticity and came to the conclusion that the most
important point of difference from an orthogonally folded sheet is that the folds are interdependent. Thus
a movement along mailto:[email protected]
one fold lire produces movement along the other. In other words, the user can open
the map with just one pull at a corner. The new method also solves in part the other problems which
Miura and Sakamaki cited. Interdependence of folds means that it is very difficult to reverse them and
the amount of stress place or, the map sheet is also reduced because only one thickness of paper
comes beneath the second fold, avoiding the need to fold several sheets. Will it catch on? That depends
on commercial exploitation. and the automation of what is admittedly a complicated initial folding
process. Miura and Sakamaki have devised a mechanical folder which they coyly term an "origami
machine", but they did not reveal its details.
Professor Koryo Miura has since sent us a copy of the paper which was distributed at the International
Cartographical Association's conference last August. This may now be borrowed from the library, and
makes fascinating reading. The subject of map-folding is dealt with very fully and several of the topics
discussed are worth a mention here. Professor Miura examines what he suggests is the oldest folded
paper map in existence.
Now in a museum in (Milan, Italy, this comes from
Egypt and describes the location of a gold mine in the
Nubian district of that country. He looks at the problems
of conventionally folded maps which are prone to stress
and tearing at their right-angled folded corners. The
Miura-on mop avoids this weakness. Diagrams showing
the paths made by both right-hand and left-hand
thumbs in unfolding the conventional and the Miura-Ori
map are compared.
Professor Miura says that on his new map the angle

made between the lengthwise-folds and the lines of
geographical longitude can he calculated to N, equal to
the westward inclination of the magnetic north in most
parts of Japan! For those who would like to reconstruct
the Miura Ori map, we reproduce a crease pattern
diagram from Professor Miura's paper, together with
precise dimensions required. For this size fold, the
parallelogram angle should be about 84 degrees
This article by Ian Bain first appeared in the 23/10/80

issue of New Scientist, London, the weekly review of
science & technology and was reproduced in an issue
of British Origami in 1981
If anyone would like to provide an update, please get in touch...
Other related sites include;
http://www.u3p.net/tempo/folding/pliage1a.html
http://www.orupa-kansai.com/e/product.htm
h ttp://library.thinkquest.org/28923/miuraori.html

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folding Pent/Hexagons

Van Goubergan's Curler units

More current users than licensed!

More current users than licensed!

The paper should stay curled up as

The final drawing (below) shows a cuboctahedron. For this,

If this explanation doesn't

Further experiments : To make

To make the icosahedron (which has 5 faces meeting at each corner) we

I haven't experimented with colours : I prefer working in white

Herman Van Goubergen

● Shaping. - the outline of the paper is varied.

5 The changes and the arts and crafts involved

Bibliography. (nb. numbers are those appearing in the text)

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I first cameMore current

Perhaps it is appropriate here to pay tribute to the important contribution that

As we talked, we were joined by Giovanni Maltagliati, the secretary of Centro

Afterwards we were taken to other parts of the complex, including a large

We then went on to Kinkaku-Ji, the famous Golden Pavilion, which is overlaid

A Tour of the Exhibition.

By any measure, it was a very impressive exhibition with perhaps 2000 or

Any visitor unacquainted with modern origami would be astonished by the

A more familiar category of Yoshizawa's work is that of folding masks. He has

The final section of the exhibition contained a number of photographs of

The Yoshizawa Exhibition: An Assessment.

I came away from the Yoshizawa exhibition with a new perspective of

The overwhelming impression I have of Akira Yoshizawa is his devotion. It is

For me, my visit to Kyoto has served to increase my understanding of

15th May, 2000, (revised 20th May, 2000)

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More current users than licensed!

The longest side of the right-angle triangle that forms this

The diagrams below show the classic way to fold an angle

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More current users than licensed!

Miura and Sakamaki normally work on the problems of packing

The key to an alternative system of may folding lies in the ancient

Miura and Sakamaki looked at this kind of surface in terms of its

Professor Miura says that on his new map the angle

This article by Ian Bain first appeared in the 23/10/80

If anyone would like to provide an update, please get in touch...

Other related sites include;

More current users than licensed!

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