When the nuclear bomb devastated Hiroshima, a girl named Sadako Sasaki contracted leukemia. Someone told Sadako that if she wanted something very strongly and built 1000 paper cranesThe gods would grant it to him. Since then, the little girl dedicated herself to building all the origami cranes that she could. Unfortunately, she passed away before completing the mission. The sad story became popular in Japan and thousands of people began to fill the city with origami cranes.
In Japan, this origami crane later became a symbol of peace, health, and the spirit and struggle of children, also used in tragic events such as the 2011 tsunami.
For centuries, origami, or the technique of folding paper, has been considered an art. He was born in China, but the one we know became popular in Japan, which under Chinese techniques shaped various figures. During the Heian Period it was a high art for the rich, as only people with money would waste the precious paper to make figures.
Later this art was used in ceremonies within the emperor’s court and was used for Shinto purposes to show respect and give a kind of respect. offering to the kamis (Japanese gods). Also at weddings, where paper butterflies were hung as decoration, and even at tea ceremonies they were used to deliver diplomas.
Later, paper began to be an everyday material for all kinds of classes as it became cheaper. Thus, origami techniques were passed from father to son. One of the referents of origami was Shuzo Fujimotoa Japanese whose main technique was geometric origami.
His work has now been republished in the public domain thanks to his children. This means that you can now use the content of these books without any restrictions. The manuals can be found below in PDF and download them for free. A great gift for the origami community, especially since physical copies of these books are nearly impossible to find today. Yes, they are in Japanese.
Shuzo Fujimoto was born in Osaka in 1922 and worked in various high schools as a full-time teacher. fujimoto developed his origami to support his teachings, in particular, this is where his modular works that resemble glass lattices come from.
His interest in origami developed over the years, leading him to create hundreds of models, publish several books beginning in 1976, and get in touch with the international origami community. Fujimoto can be described as an engineering-type origami designer, as his background in chemistry started him and later influenced his work.
Many of his designs were intended as teaching aids, depicting multi-crystal structures and simple geometric shapes. He seems like he didn’t pay much attention to the artistic side of folding, but his methods are just amazing.
Images: Shuzo Fujimoto