Japanese salesman’s packaging sample scroll, and has removable samples of packaging ‘origata’ samples. Origata is paper folding for wrapping and ceremonies (very similar to origami).  

Origata is an ancient word with nearly 600 years of history yet today, it is a lost word in Japan—in fact, very few Japanese even know its meaning today. Simply defined, it is the method of wrapping gifts with handmade paper without the use of scissors, tape or glue.

During the 15th century, Origata was used as part of an exclusively established tradition amongst upper-class Samurai families of the Muromachi period (1392 – 1573). A gift would be placed on a piece of paper and neatly and elegantly wrapped without moving nor turning it. The wrapping represented a symbolic shape of the gift inside for the recipient to identify at first glance. The giver would directly present the gift to the recipient as making time and effort in giving the gift was thought to forge stronger relationships.

Scholar Angelika Koch commented, “Thank you for sharing this, what a delightful curiosity! I have never seen anything like it. The title on the slip also says that it is ‘Ogasawara-ryu’ folding techniques, so Ogasawara style. The Ogasawara represented a certain style of etiquette – these folding styles of the Ogasawara were also commonly included in Edo-period educational texts for women (like the notorious ‘Greater Learning for Women’)”.