Origami diorama masterpieces, a great place to see and a bit of history

In Japan, the first historical mention of an object made by paper folding - origami (ori means "folding" and kami "paper") - was in a poem from 1680 by Ihara Saikaku, referring to the origami butterflies used to decorate sake bottles at Shinto weddings.

During the same period, according to the samurai etiquette, the gifts were decorated with noshi, which was believed to bring good luck. Noshi is an origami folded together with a piece of dried abalone (abalone is a symbol of longevity).


Invented in China, the paper was brought to Japan during the 6th century, by Buddhist monks. Because it was very expensive, originally the paper was used only during religious ceremonies, when the offerings to the gods were wrapped in paper. At the beginning of the 7th century, the Japanese started producing their own paper, washi. Unlike the ordinary paper, made from wood pulp, washi is made from fibers, the most frequent used being kozo (paper mulberry), the bark of the gampi tree and the mitsumata shrub. Washi is thinner and more resistant than the usual paper and that makes it perfect for origami.

After the paper production grew, during the Edo period, the art of origami became a mass phenomenon, no longer controlled by the canons of etiquette. The first book about origami appeared in 1797, titled Hiden Senbazuru Orikata "The secret of one thousand paper cranes origami", and the origami crane remained until today the most popular origami model.

A thousand paper cranes is considered to be one of the strongest lucky charms and a powerful symbol of longevity, because it was believed that the crane lives 1000 years. It was customary for the father to give as a wedding gift a thousand paper cranes, so that the young couple will have 1000 years of joy and prosperity. Also, the newborn children were receiving it as a gift for long life and good luck.

Soon, people started inventing new origami models and in 1845 a new book appeared, with a large collection of origami models, Kan no mado ("Window on Midwinter"). And later, during the Meiji period, origami was introduced even to kindergartens.

But enough with the history, I promised you a great place to admire origami masterpieces: there's an excellent origami museum at the Narita Airport, located on the 3rd floor of the Terminal 1 Central building. If you're departing Japan from Narita, you may want to reserve at least half an hour to admire a series of amazing dioramas.

Many of them are representing traditional Japanese scenes:

Here's a floats parade...

... and a temple (it seems to be from Nara)...

... a tea house, complete with a garden and Jizo statues...

... another festival...

A Japanese garden with pond and bridge...

... actually, that's one of my favorites, look at the details:

Then we have Noh theater scenes...

... a Taiko drummers show...

... and a Hina Matsuri Dolls display...

There are also historical scenes: a group of samurai in front of a castle (Byakkotai)...

... and this one seems to be a legend:

Many other smaller origami models...

... with mythological characters...

... like Kasa Obake (the Umbrella ghost)...


There are also objects, like a kabuto (samurai helmet)...

... many flowers...

... where of course, sakura is well represented:

Another interesting subject, the modular origami:



There are also dinosaurs...

...dragons...

... and hippos:

The modern world is also well represented: we have the space shuttle and the lunar module:

And since the Christmas is close, enjoy a Christmas themed diorama, with origami Christmas trees and Santa Claus (^_^):


Finally, I want to tell you that the museum periodically changes the displayed collection, so you may enjoy different origami masterpieces on every visit to Japan...