About Origami Cranes
Origami is a type of origami made by folding a square piece of paper into a shape resembling a crane.
It is one of the most familiar origami pieces in Japan, and is known to many generations because of its easy folding method. Many origami books for beginners include instructions on how to make it.
Since ancient times, a thousand cranes have been folded and strung together to make a senbazuru, and it is said that the number was chosen as an auspicious number based on the saying that "cranes last for a thousand years." In the past, they were dedicated to shrines and temples, but now they are made and donated for various purposes, such as blessings, prayers for happiness, comfort in times of disaster, prayers for recovery from illness, and condolences.
In the Sendai Heiwa Tanabata festival, the shape of the thousand paper cranes is used to create works of art several meters in size called "windsocks." In this case, the head is not folded and the wings are not spread, which is similar to the origami cranes but different from them.