The Art of Hanakami, or Flower-Petal Folding

Summary

What kind of paper would you use to fold flowers? As folders, we know that finding the right paper for the model we want to fold (and vice versa) is important for achieving the right form and appearance. Personally, I’ve used a lot of different materials for my work, including everything from printer paper and aluminum foil to cellophane, fabric and more. When folding origami flowers, why not use flower petals? I first became interested in this idea when my attempts at a Guinness World Record for the smallest origami crane made by hand turned out to be in vain (another story for another time), and I needed something else to make my mark in the origami world. What started from a thought in my head turned into a labor of love that took me from countless local florists, botanic gardens, herbariums, to the writings of David Lister, email correspondence with Robert Lang about paper in origami, and now to you, the reader. Suffice to say, I have spent years exploring this unique aspect of our shared craft. I invite you to read on, learn from my experience, and try it for yourself. A crane folded from a rose petal by Michael Lai. Photo: Deb Yarrow. Hanakami: A Definition How can we describe the folding of flower petals? Certainly, there are no words for it in Japanese or English. “Orihana,” meaning “folded flower” (折り花) is a strong choice, but I am sure it is already in use. “Hanagami” might be grammatically correct, except that it also means “tissue paper” in Japanese (鼻紙). However, our emphasis is on the fact that organic materials in the form of flower petals are being substituted for paper. So, taking the Japanese kanji character for “flower” (花 — hana), and using the same character for “paper” (紙 — kami), we can combine the two words to form “hanakami” (花紙 — hanakami), a portmanteau to mean “using flower as paper,” or “flower paper.” It is not the folding of flower petal models, but the folding of origami models using flower petals. No matter what you choose to call it...