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Origami is an ancient Japanese craft of paper folding. Origami only uses
a small number of different folds, but they can be combined in an infinite
variety of ways to make extremely intricate designs. In general, these
designs begin with a square sheet of paper, whose sides may be different
colors, and proceed without cutting the paper. Contrary to popular belief,
traditional Japanese origami, which has been practiced since the Meiji era
(1860-1912), has often been less strict about these conventions, sometimes
starting with a rectangle or another non-square sheet of paper, or cutting
the paper during the creation of the design. An origami design can be as
simple as a party hat or paper airplane, or as complex as a model of the
Eiffel Tower or a leaping gazelle. The Japanese do not see origami as an art
form, but an integrated part of their culture and tradition.
The work of Akira Yoshizawa of Japan, a prolific creator of origami
designs and writer of books on origami, inspired a modern renaissance of the
craft. Modern origami has attracted a worldwide following, with ever more
intricate designs and new techniques such as 'wet-folding,' the practice of
dampening the paper somewhat during folding to allow the finished product to
hold shape better, and variations such as modular origami, where many
origami units are assembled to form an often decorative whole.
 One of the most famous origami designs is the Japanese Crane. Legend
says that anyone who folds one thousand paper cranes will have their heart's
desire come true. The origami crane has become a symbol of peace because of
this legend, and because of a young Japanese girl named Sadako. Sadako was
exposed to the radiation of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima as an infant,
and it took its inevitable toll on her health. By the time she was twelve in
1955, she was dying of leukemia. Hearing the legend, she decided to fold
1,000 cranes so that she could live. Sadako also wrote a haiku that
translates into English as:
"I shall write peace upon your wings, and you shall fly around the world so
that children will no longer have to die this way." Sadako died before she
could complete her task, and her classmates folded the remaining number so
that she could be buried with 1,000 cranes. There is a granite statue of
Sadako in the Hiroshima Peace Park: a young girl standing with her hand
outstretched, a paper crane flying from her fingertips.
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