Origami Certificates.  8.10.98.

In a messge to Origami-L, Torsten Drees asks about the reference to Japanese
Origami certificates in Peter Engel's "Angelfish to Zen".

I regret that I cannot give an answer to his question as to how the
certificates were folded, and I should like to know the answer. Certificates
were also given to certify the manufacture and excellence of such things as
Japanese swords.

A certificate was known as an "origami" and this was probably the earliest use
of that word, long before it became applied to actual paperfolding.  It seems
that the word "origami" was later used in the context of actual paperolding
for ceremonial folding like noshi and tstutsumi. It was not until the end of
the 19th Century that recretional folding came to be called "Origami". Before
that, recreational folding was known by a variety of words, including
"orikata", "orisue" and "tatamgami".

The real point of interest about the use of the word "origami" for a
certificate is that it exactly parallels the Greek use of the word "diploma",
which means a paper, folded into two. (Actually,  in the Greek context it
could not be paper, but would be papyrus or vellum.) It is extraordinary that
two very different cultures at opposite ends of the earth should adopt the
same usage. Or was there some link we do not know about?

Related to this, there is a way of folding a letter (typically a love letter)
in a manner that  will indicate immediately if it has been unfolded before it
reached the intended recipient. In this method, the paper is rolled into a
tube abour a third of and inch in diameter. The tube is then pinched all along
its length, each pinch being at right angles to its adjacent pinches. The
letter can never be rolled up in exactly the same way, one it has ben
unrolled.

Apart from Peter Engel's reference to Origami Certificates being folded in
such a way that they could not be unfoded without revealing the fact, I had
always assumed that the method of folding an origami certificate was quite
simple and merely for ceremonial purposes. What would be the purpose of
folding a certificate in such a way that nobody could unfold it to read its
contents? I do not know where Peter Engel got his information, but I should
very much like to know his reference. Or any other reference. I look forward
to any information that anyone can give.

David Lister.