My Own Little Man-Diary: A Thousand Paper Cranes

A friend of mine, an avid fan of Japanese culture, told me about the Expo, and we met there. The expo showcased many different aspects of Japanese culture; the wearing of kimonos, calligraphy, among other things. One thing that really caught my attention was Origami, or the art of folding paper.

I already know one thing to make during that time, the traditional Tsuru or the crane. When I saw the small table where they were doing their Origami, they were doing the crane too, and a box, out of all things. Mostly simple origami, but still a beautiful art.

After seeing them, I bought sheets of origami paper. I didn't start then and there, but about a week after the expo. I had looked up videos on youtube on how to make some simple designs. The two most prominent Origami folders were Jo Nakashima and Tadashi Mori. Shout out to those two for sharing their expertise to the less inclined, I had learned much from both of them.

As a relatively beginner, I only looked on videos that usually did not last more than ten minutes. There was a tutorial about making an Origami dragon that piqued my interest, but the video last almost forty minutes. There was this one video that only lasted up to eight minutes, but it took me almost an hour to assemble. Needless to say, I forewent learning the dragon and opted to go for simpler designs.

As I mentioned earlier, there's a design that I took almost an hour to make, and that was the Magic Rose Cube. The magic rose cube tutorial video (which you can see here) is short, but you see in the video that you actually require three of each piece that he shows you how to make. Although it took me a while to finish, the end product was beautiful.

Then I continued on to more designs, with a Peace Dove, a Neko Cat, and a Zerg Hydralisk, which I thought was pretty cool. Considering that the Hydralisk was created from a Tsuru. Whoever created the design was a very creative individual.

Kotobukizuru

Origami has been a long tradition in many other countries, but as we know Japan is the most popular one. Origami stems from the two words "ori" which means folding and "kami" which means paper. And it dates long enough that no one actually knows when it really started.

As I mentioned earlier, I had only known how to make the Tsuru, or the crane. It is one of the most popular designs in Origami, so much so that there's a legend behind making the paper crane. It is said that if one successfully makes a thousand paper cranes, he is granted one wish by a crane, one of the mystical or holy creatures in Japan. And it is said that the crane can live for up to a thousand years. Or so it says.

Traditional Tsuru

There is a story in Japan of a girl named Sadako Sasaki (not related to the ghost in The Ring) who was very sick. She was dying, in fact. Stricken with leukemia, the girl had only one wish: to live. And so she started folding paper cranes in hopes of completing a thousand and being granted a wish. But, Sadako, weak from her disease, was unable to continue. She was only able to make 644 paper cranes before passing away. Friends and family continued on and buried the thousand paper cranes with her.

This story touched me in a way that I want to make a thousand paper cranes, in honor of Sadako. From then on, I started making more paper cranes and littered my room with them. I'm far from a thousand, but I'm gearing towards there.

Hopefully, I'll be able to get that wish.

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