What is "kirigami"

n. Origami, with cutting permitted.

is a variation of origami that includes cutting of the paper (from Japanese "kiru" = to cut, "kami" = paper), rather than solely folding the paper as is the case with origami. It is also called "Kirie" (切り絵). From "Kiru"= to cut, "e"= picture.

Typically, kirigami starts with a folded base, which is then cut; cuts are then opened and flattened to make the finished kirigami. Kirigami are usually symmetrical, such as snowflakes, pentagrams, or orchid blossoms.

A difference between kirigami and the art of "pop-up" is that kirigami is made out of a single piece of paper that has been cut into a design. Pop ups can be made of several pieces glued together.

Mon-Kiri is the Japanese art of paper cutting.

The kirigami were esoteric documents of the Sōtō school in medieval Japan which

For instance,

Some kirigami

Kirigami were also

Bernard Faure writes that the kirigami were

Steven Heine writes that,