Celebrating International Origami Day

Every November 11, the world celebrates International Origami Day, honoring the ancient Japanese art of paper folding.

The roots of origami trace back to Japan’s Edo period (1603–1868), though similar paper-folding traditions were practiced earlier in China and Europe. Originally used for religious and ceremonial purposes, origami gradually evolved into a creative and educational art. In the early 1900s, pioneers such as Akira Yoshizawa, Kosho Uchiyama, and others began creating and documenting original folding patterns.

Yoshizawa, often regarded as the father of modern origami, introduced revolutionary techniques like wet-folding, which allows for more sculptural, lifelike forms, and developed the Yoshizawa–Randlett diagramming system, which remains the global standard for origami instructions today. His innovations sparked a worldwide renaissance in the art form.

Origami’s popularity continued to spread throughout the 20th century. In 1974, the craft was even introduced in the USSR as a creative activity for schoolchildren. By the late 20th century, a movement known as “new origami” emerged, combining art, science, and technology. The integration of computational mathematics transformed origami into a serious field of study, giving rise to complex folding techniques such as box-pleating, tessellations, and advanced wet-folding.

This new era was led by visionary artists from all over the world like Robert J. Lang, a former NASA physicist, Erik Demaine, a computer scientist and folding theorist, Sipho Mabona from Switzerland, Giang Dinh from Vietnam and Paul Jackson from the UK.

Their works bridged disciplines, influencing architecture, engineering, robotics, and even space exploration.

Origami’s influence extends far beyond paper, inspiring stunning sculptures and architectural works around the world. American artist Kevin Box transforms delicate folds into monumental bronze and steel creations like Crane Unfolded, preserving the purity of origami in durable form.

Swiss artist Sipho Mabona gained global attention with his life-sized paper rhino, The White Elephant (2014), folded from a single 15-meter sheet to symbolize both strength and fragility.

Architects took it one step further, creating colossal pavilions resembling the folds and creases of origami. For Expo 2020 in Dubai, Yuko Nagayama and Associates has created a grand, origami-inspired structure. Focusing on the theme of connection between Arabic and Japanese cultures, the pavilion used three-dimensional geometric shapes to merge traditional patterns of the two cultures.

Artists like Karine Demers continue to interpret origami’s essence in ceramic and metal, proving that the art of folding, whether in paper, steel, or stone, remains a universal language of transformation.

Today, major events such as the Tokyo International Origami Exhibition, OrigamiUSA Convention in New York, and the British Origami Society’s annual gathering celebrate this timeless craft. Online communities now connect folders across continents, where new designs spread as swiftly as they are folded.