Since about the first century AD, the time when it is believed that paper was first invented in China, people have been folding paper into various shapes. The Chinese developed some simple forms, some of which survive down to this day. When the secret of paper was carried to Japan in the sixth century AD by Buddhist monks, it was quickly integrated into their culture. Paper was used in architecture and in the many rituals of everyday Japanese life and of the Shinto religion. In fact, the word for paper, kami, is a homonym for the word for spirit or god. The designs associated with Shintoist ceremony have remained unchanged over the centuries. The Japanese transmitted