COOL PAPER ART ORIGAMI CLASSIC PAPER FOLDING RACHAEL L THOMAS Checkerboard Library An Imprint of Abdo Publishing abdobooks com
ANCIENT PAPER FOLDING Origami is an ancient form of art using paper The word comes from the Japanese words oru meaning fold and kami meaning paper Origami artists make models of animals plants people and many more amazing things Origami wouldn't exist without paper Paper was invented 2 000 years ago in China Around 500 CE Buddhist monks brought paper from China to Japan Japan is where the art of paper folding became what we know today as origami At first only the richest people in Japan could practice origami This was because paper was very expensive at the time So most people couldn't afford it
Then as the paper industry improved paper became less expensive More and more Japanese people were able to make origami People began to make origami models as decorations and sent them to others as gifts Origami was also used to teach math Origami remains an important part of Japanese culture But now origami is also practiced all around the world in many different ways Anyone can become an origami master including you
