An Origamist in Japan

Last year, around this time, we had plans to visit Japan during the autumn to enjoy the colors of the trees changing from green to yellow, orange and red. (Editor’s Note: the article was submitted in mid-November.)

As things happened in Israel last October, we decided to push our visit forward by a year, assuming the war would be over by then. Unfortunately, this did not happen, but we decided to continue with our plans.

Japan, here we come again!

Preparations

This was not my first time in Japan, and as a veteran, I felt comfortable arranging the whole trip by myself. All the hotels were booked via Booking.com. I rented a car twice, using Toyota rental services, and booked restaurants, tours and museums as soon as they allowed it. With every step planned, I had a Google Doc with all the programs; each landmark was hyperlinked to Google Maps, with all the approval documents linked as well.

Impressions

Japan may be the most designed place I have ever been to. Every aspect of life is measured by the way it looks, and how efficient it is. There is an order, and you have to follow it. Here, people are standing in line to cross the road, waiting for the green light:

Everything has a place, and every situation has rules. I left a tea bag inside a teacup in my hotel room for a later refill. When I returned, there was a small printed note saying that if I wanted my tea cup to be cleaned, I should have put the tea bag in the bin. A printed, designed note was prepared for this exact situation.

Japanese people like to make sure you understand the situation, and for that they will prepare a set of graphics, most of the time exaggerated, to explain it. See what can happen if you do not mind your step, in this little, helpful sign:

Quietness

We reached Tokyo at midday and were amazed at how quiet it was. The cars are quiet; people are quiet. Everybody is respectful of the surroundings. No one will speak on the train. And I don’t mean speak on the phone. I mean at all. If needed, they will whisper.

Onsen

Our trip took us outside of the big cities — Hakone area, Kiso Valley, the Alpine route and the Alps. All those places are meant to help you relax and forget about the burden of work and life in general. A major part of that is the onsen, a public hot-water bath. I have been to spas, Hamam, jacuzzi and hot baths, but nothing tops the onsen experience. If you are lucky, it will be an open-air onsen, under the skies.

The pools we visited varied. In general, they were about 50 cm in depth and could fit two to 10 men at once, depending on the luxury level of the hotel. You have to wash yourself before, and you have everything you need to groom yourself after, but this is all a nuisance. The heart of it is submerging your body in the hot water and letting the cool air keep your head cold. And then, do nothing for 10 minutes, step out for a minute or two, and step in for another ten. Empty your head, enjoy the sensation, and do nothing else. And do it completely naked, like everyone else.

Food

We booked a table at Velrosier in Kyoto three months in advance. It was listed as one of the top 10 promising restaurants in an article I remember reading two years ago. When we reached the place, we couldn’t ignore the red sign of the Michelin guide, with two stars on it. The distinction was awarded just a few days before we got there.

The food in Japan is wonderful. And healthy. I'd been keeping to a diet and had lost around 10 kilos, but I prepared myself for a change in the graph since I was not going to avoid anything. I love tempura, and I had something fried almost every day. Still, I managed to maintain my weight. Dishes in Japan are small; a steak will be at most 120 grams (just over 4 ounces). I also consumed a snack per day.

Japanese snacks are unique and hard to resist. Just take a look at how many I carried back home.

Origami

Well, there is a reason why you are reading this article in an origami magazine. There was not a day in which I did not see something related to origami. But I am going to surprise you and say that origami in Japan is subtle, if not negligible. In three hotels, there was an origami model somewhere.

By far, the favorite model is the crane. You will see it In shops, as a decoration or as a product. If they sell paper, it will be the example nearby.

More sophisticated eyes will find more origami embedded in the surroundings. When we got out of the Velrosier restaurant I noticed this lamp above me:

Near the elevator, we saw this lamp:

This fashionable bag is actually crumpled fabric:

But the most exciting origami I met in Japan was this:

On the 34th floor of a building, in the Kintan Steak restaurant, you get a beautiful vista over Tokyo and reflections of the lamps I designed 14 years ago for Aqua Creations, a lighting studio in Israel. I was proud to see that a Japanese restaurant would choose my design.

But the best part of origami in Japan is the interaction with people around you. I bought churros balls, and while waiting for them to fry, I folded a LaFosse butterfly and handed it to the woman in the booth, who handed me the skewer. She got so excited, asking, “For me? For me? Are you sure?”

At the train station, a lady sat on a bench and moved a little to allow me to sit. I presented her with another butterfly, and she was shocked that I could fold it so quickly. “I once folded the crane,” she said. She was super impressed by my folding skills, which ignited a long chit-chat between us.

On the train, there were two little sisters, bored and annoyed. I gave one a butterfly and the other a flower and a flapping bird, and that terminated their boredom. They had something to play with now and explored the possibilities together.

In a restaurant, I noticed many models labeled and arranged in two rows. Using Google Translate, I found out the labels represent months:

I asked the owner for a sheet of kami, and I folded yet another butterfly. She got excited and took another sheet, added the kanji to show her thanks, and started to fold a model I didn’t know. But she was so excited she couldn’t remember the sequence. After three tries, she just made a Yoshizawa’s butterfly and handed it to me. When we left, she followed us, thanking me again and again.

It seems to me that origami in Japan is still considered to be child’s play, a memory from kindergarten, and not what we wish to see in it — a legitimate form of art. A butterfly was more than enough to wow any viewer, just as it is in any other place I have been on Earth. Yes, most will know to name it origami and to feel connected to it as Japanese, but nothing more than that.

This does not change the fact that it brought joy and smiles to people around me whenever I folded a sheet of kami. Origami is the ultimate icebreaker.

Conclusion

The weather will vary between sunny days and rain. The scenes at this time of year will be gorgeous, a mix of warm colors. The food will be tasty, although a bit challenging to the Western tongue. The cultural aspect will be stunning. And the experience will be one of the best you have had.

Go, fly to Japan, and thank me later!