, the Japanese art of paper folding [ori = "to fold", kami = "paper"] began shortly after paper made its way to Japan from China in the 6th century A.D. Cranes are the hallmark of origami. My mother taught me to fold my first crane when I was five years old. Mom also learned at the age of five. Growing up in the sugar plantation community of Lihue on the island of Kauai in the 1940's, Mom, along with her brothers and sisters, would often spend the afternoon in the local movie theater after school. The old Japanese men would also frequent the movie theater after working the fields all day. Mom would sit next to the old men before the movie and watch them fold their movie tickets and programs into paper cranes. And so, all the children who grew up around the Lihue Plantation were often found folding cranes out of everything and anything they could get their little hands on.

The reasoning behind the 1001 origami cranes is that it takes much patience and concentration to fold them all. It is suppose to be a joint venture between the bride and groom. In the time that the soon-to-be couple spends folding cranes, they can contemplate the necessity for cooperation, patience, and support. In essence the artistic display of 1001 origami cranes embodies the couple's understanding of these qualities which are essential in any successful relationship. Well, at least that's my take on the whole thing...

In our case, it took us four months to fold all 1001 origami cranes. We decided to display our cranes in two dimensions (rather than in a mobile). As far as we can tell, our design is unique. The mural included 300 gold and 200 green foil cranes to create the palm tree, and 500 red foil cranes for the setting sun. In the upper left corner sat the 1001st crane, perched on the outstretched palm frond.

To this day, our cranes are hanging in our living room for all to see.