“Origata” refers to the formal etiquette surrounding the packaging and tying of gifts. One of the standard and most highly regarded reference works in the world of origata is “Hoketsu zusetsu,” an illustrated guide to the principles of packaging and tying written by Sadatake Ise (1718-1784) and published in 1840. The work consists of two volumes: the first on packaging and the second on tying.
“Tsutsumi no kotowari” (The Principles of Packaging), the first volume, introduces 23 varieties of folding, with illustrations. Nearly all examples, however, consist merely of two drawings shown on opposite pages: one a net drawing showing how the work is to be performed, and the other a drawing of the completed work.
This exhibition is our attempt to create diagrams for the procedures that were abbreviated in Ise’s work, as a way of decoding the thought principles and unspoken cultural influences behind these creative forms. We hope the exhibition will also give visitors an opportunity to see how I, along with Origata Design Institute, have confronted the classics for more than 10 years, and how we have advanced from those original forms and arrived at specific new forms.

Nobuhiro Yamaguchi