Japanese diplomat has origami Instagram

Every day for a year, a Japanese diplomat has posted a nearly identical Instagram video of the paper crane he folded on the day.

“Today is my 365th day in Seattle,” Hisao Inagaki, the consul general for the western US city, said in a video posted on Friday.

“I have folded the 365th crane, praying for everyone’s health and peace.”

It was a triumphant moment for 60-year-old Inagaki, who arrived in the United States in August last year because the country was in the depths of the COVID-19 health crisis, and person-to-person contact was difficult.

“I started recording origami cranes because of the pandemic,” he told AFP in a video interview.

“I wanted to use my social media to send a message to everyone expressing my sympathy.”

So began his Zen-like meditation, in which every similarly framed video shows Inagaki delivering the same message, with only the numbers – and his shirt – changing.

Paper cranes have been made for centuries in Japan, where they are a symbol of longevity.

“It is believed that turning 1,000 paper cranes is a prelude to good things, and 1,000 is not an exact number, and is instead a lot,” says Ingaki.

Not counting the two-day outages that kept him off the stage on days 193 and 194, Inagaki has remained faithful to his plan — and his script.

There was a slight deviation on Day 195, when he added an enthusiastic: “I’m back!” At the beginning of the video, before returning to your pattern.

Friday’s post showed the diplomat – wearing a suit for the occasion – showing off the numbers “365” built from paper cranes.

“To keep (posting) every day, I thought it was better to be simple,” Inagaki says.

This simplicity is what makes Inagaki’s Instagram account almost compelling, with each 10- or 11-second video featuring a self-contained piece of performance art.

Each folded crane is dated and preserved in a large box, but at the end of his Seattle posting, Inagaki says he wants to donate his works.

“I want to give them to someone … to provide these folded cranes in a nursery” or an old people’s home, he said.

Until then, he’ll keep folding – much to the delight of his nearly 900 followers.

“I look forward to your videos every day,” wrote a follower on Day 360.

“Lovely,” wrote another. “I’m glad you live in my city.”

Original Source