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Grade 9 and 10 students at THINK Global School explore
Japanese Cultural Crafts and Ceremonies


Object


The cultural craft piece was a piece that was motivated by the popular cultural crafts of Japan. Origami was the most interesting and attractive object to make for this project. The idea first revolved around origami cranes. Things that can be made out of many origami cranes, out of one big one or just using the material. The delicate paper could be used to make a plethora of magnificent creatures, shapes, objects, weapons and a lot more. Another thing that really interested me was the Katana, which is the most priceless entity that a Samurai owned. The Katana was the most priceless object mainly because of the duration of its discovery process and its value in the Bushido; the Samurai’s code. This object was used in war and was an undefeatable weapon in terms of its strength, sharpness and longevity. From these two really mind blowing art of Japanese; it gave me an idea to combine the two. The Katana, which was a very brutally dangerous weapon responsible for taking the lives of many and the paper crane which was made from delicate, fragile paper and used as a representation of peace. So I decided to merge these two concepts and made my own. Representing it so that the sword was made from the delicate paper. It is fascinating to see that the sword looks really realistic but has the properties of just a delicate origami paper. However, there is a secret behind that too, although it was made out of paper, something that seems really helpless. It can still do the smallest degree of damage; paper cuts. Therefore, this piece really plays around a lot with irony and controversies.
The Katana is a sword that embraced many values and importance in the life of a Samurai. The sword was of ample importance to the life of these people since it was a symbol for ones social status, it was used in many traditions and it was the closest entity to the Samurai. The Katana was the product of years and years of swords building. It was the early 15th century when a sword smith and his son swore to their master that they would make the perfect sword with properties so strong that it could withstand anything and still be the sharpest blade. After the perfection of this sword, it was recognized as the single most perfect sword ever developed.
How to Make an Origami Crane.
Katana: The Samurai's Soul.
Yodsel explored the contradictory ideas of origami and samurai weaponry.

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