Yesterday, during a visit to an elementary school, a presenter from the city’s education bureau made a point about the complexity behind the simple act of making an origami frog. Showing the frog, he then opened up a piece of paper upon which were traced all the folds that are present in the completed frog.

The origami frog is beautiful. The patterns inside the frog are also beautiful. The care that went into depicting those patterns is beautiful. And the idea that parents and students are encouraged to make, celebrate, and understand art as a core component to human development is beautiful. Origami, painting, singing, calligraphy—along with caring for animals and paying attention to nature—are equally important with typical math/reading/history subjects here in Japan.

My experiences of Japanese education suggest that the development of the body and mind are not seen as separate. Instead, the physical and mental are unified through origami, kendo, and long recess periods on equipment that challenge students (including ubiquitous unicycles). Our family is glad to be learning here, glad to be singing songs, folding paper, climbing trees, digging up sweet potatoes, and growing tomatoes along with what we would be learning in school in America.

With permission, here’s a photo of the frog and the digram, a small part of the larger web of relations as people work together to pass on these traditions, fold by fold.