The Story of “Green” Makigami Pens
My first book “Origami Bonsai” (Tuttle Publishing), describes how to fold leaves and flowers from squares of paper. It then teaches the reader to assemble them onto dead branches obtained from walks in local forests. While the book hadn’t been released yet, I began receiving emails from people throughout the world asking how to produce my flowers and leaves.
I became worried about the ramifications of my book becoming popular. What if it became a best seller? Would this result in the stripping of trees, especially in urban areas? Certainly this would result in a wave of bad press, not to mention the esthetics of the forests that were stripped. I started researching ways to create branches from paper. I knew that lollipop sticks were made from tightly rolled and compressed paper, but was unsure if I could mimic the process.
After months of research and prototyping, I discovered that a mixture of liquid, at the proper temperature and consistency, would react with newsprint (the paper that newspapers are made from) and allow me to roll stems and assemble branches. I also developed molding techniques that produced graceful curves, and tapering techniques that made the paper stems look more realistic. A new art form was born.
“Ori” means fold and “gami” means paper in Japanese. Therefore, origami means fold-paper. As my paper rolling was complimentary to origami, I felt it ought to have a Japanese name. After searching an English to Japanese dictionary, I came across the word “Maki,” which means “roll” in Japanese. I was already familiar with the word from one of my favorite foods, California Maki, the rolled mixture of rice and imitation crab you get at Japanese restaurants. I decided to name the new art form “Makigami.”
About a month ago, while shaving, I suddenly realized that my paper would make a fine substitute for the plastic razor handle in my hand. After a little research, I discovered my invention would have greater impact if I introduced it to the world in the form of a disposable recyclable pen. I did some research on the internet and discovered that more than a 100 billion disposable pens are made each year (5). If placed end-to-end they would circle the globe 348 times (5), and it will take approximately 450 years for them to degrade (1). The first two prototype “green” pens were made on March 17, 2009. They were very simple, “stick” pens without caps or pocket clips.
Applications for this new material are not limited to disposable pens. Virtually any product can be made either entirely from Makigami, or with some parts made from it. Possible future Makigami products include auto parts, aviation parts, marine parts, indoor furniture, sports equipment, children’s toys, toothbrushes, hairbrushes, mop, broom and other handles, and many more.
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