Art & Exhibits · Ochanomizu / Yushima

Origami Kaikan お茶の水 おりがみ会館

A family-run origami centre near Ochanomizu (founded 1858 as a washi dyer) with a free gallery of astonishing paper sculpture, a shop of thousands of papers and a workshop where you can watch artisans hand-dye paper.

About

Origami Kaikan is run by the Kobayashi family, whose business began in 1858 as a dyer of washi paper and later became central to Japan's origami movement. The free first-floor gallery shows rotating exhibitions of origami that stretch the definition of 'folded paper': life-size samurai helmets, whole seasonal landscapes, insects with every leg folded from a single sheet. Upstairs, a shop stocks thousands of patterned chiyogami, washi and origami papers, and on the fourth floor you can watch craftspeople hand-dye and stencil paper. Director Kazuo Kobayashi, now well into his eighties, still often gives impromptu folding demonstrations to visitors in the shop, and paid origami classes (some in English) can be booked.

Highlights

• Free gallery of large-scale origami sculptures
• Watch artisans hand-dyeing washi on the workshop floor
• Shop with thousands of chiyogami and washi patterns
• Impromptu folding demonstrations by the founder's family
• Bookable origami classes

Tips

• Closed on Sundays and national holidays.
• Washi papers make light, flat, inexpensive souvenirs, buy here rather than at airport shops.
• Walk from Ochanomizu Station past Yushima Seido, Confucius' 17th-century temple, 5 minutes away.

Open in Google Maps · Info checked 2026-10-09

Nearby

• Kanda MyojinShrine · 270 m away
• Ochanomizu Station & Hijiri-bashiTransit Hub · 310 m away
• Yushima SeidoLocal Secret · 390 m away
• Tokyo Waterworks Historical MuseumMuseum · 400 m away
• Ochanomizu Musical Instrument Street (Gakkiten-gai)Shopping Street · 430 m away
• Myojinshita Kandagawa HontenRestaurant · 450 m away
• Menya SuzuharuRamen & Noodles · 450 m away
• Hongo Reservoir ParkLocal Secret · 470 m away