In a culture without tipping, one Japanese waiter began to realize that customers were expressing their gratitude in a subtle (and in some cases even unintentional) way, by folding the sleeves in which their chopsticks came wrapped.

In 2012, Yuki Tatsumi began to collect these into a set he would come to display and call Japanese Tip. He started at the establishment in which he worked, then branched out to other restaurants around Japan to gather over 10,000 examples of all kinds.

Finally, half a decade later, he staged an exhibition of his collection in Tokyo. The variety is remarkable, from complex origami-style works to shredded and otherwise deformed sleeves.

The results show various degrees of conscious and subconscious effort by patrons. Meanwhile, the variety of materials, colors and designs from different sleeves also lends complexity to the collection.

“Japanese Tip is a project between restaurants and customers,” says Tatsumi of the project, “to communicate the ‘appreciation for food’ and ‘appreciation of the service’ by using the most common material used at any Japanese restaurant.

Acting out scenes from storybooks or animating real activities, these deceptively simple-looking, folded-paper toys leap, bounce, roll and hatch into action when played with.

Japanese designer Haruki Nakamura was inspired by the ancient art of kirigami, a variation on origami that involves cuts as well as folds, but takes it to the next level with his playful animals.

The specific behaviors of the toys often follow the natural reactions of a given animal, like an armadillo rolling itself up for protection when threatened.

Combining kirigami with karakuri, the art of mechanical puppets actived by touch, led him to these neat hybrid creatures that one can poke, prod, press or drop into action.

In some cases, the activities are innocent and entertaining, like a turtle popping into its shell or a chick hatching from an egg. Others are humorously sinister, showing wolves in sheep’s clothing or a tortoise being eaten by an alligator. For now, alas, these works are only available in Japan.

City dwellers with small apartments and limited storage can now own a kayak that folds up into a suitcase-sized package perfect for toting on your bike or public transit. The Oru Kayak originally debuted on Kickstarter in 2012, and every few years since then, they’ve released an updated model, with their lineup including the casual Beach LT for day trips, the Bay ST for longer days and the Coast XT for rugged conditions in surf and wind.

Earlier this year, they returned to Kickstarter to raise funds for a limited edition design in collaboration with 1% for the Planet with a custom green tree print, and now, they’re offering another limited edition: the United by Blue style.

The Oru Beach LT Kayak: United by Blue edition has all the same features as the standard Beach LT, but with the addition of a seamless graphic print in either orange or navy blue. The collaboration is a natural fit considering that United by Blue has spent the last few years organizing volunteer ocean and river cleanups using Oru kayaks, and lots of urban kayakers donate their time on the water in a similar manner.

The origami-inspired folding design of Oru’s Beach LT folds from flat and compact into a standard-sized kayak in under five minutes, while the more complex models take 10 or 15 minutes to assemble. As anyone who’s ever owned and transported a kayak can imagine, the ability to fold such an unwieldy object is a welcome innovation, especially if you don’t have a garage or basement to store it in, or a vehicle of your own. But the design isn’t just for newbies – it was made for everyone from the weekender to the fisherman in mind, for short trips or multi-day excursions.

Get your exclusive UBB x Our Kayak Undercurrent Pack at the United By Blue website, or check out the other offerings at OruKayak.com.

A Japanese designer and Italian shoemaker have taken a fresh approach to athletic footwear, adapting the minimalist art of cloth wrapping to form the basis of a flexible shoe that fits any foot shape.

Masaya Hashimoto worked with Vibram, the makers of foot-shaped FiveFingers shoes (with articulated toes), to create the Furoshiki series of shoes with wrapping soles that fold around feet without needing laces (a simple hook and and loop system).

A specially-engineered gripping system keeps the shoes in place and make it possible for the shoe to perform like ordinary footwear but with less weight and material.

The system has a number of advantages, including more flexible sizing than traditional shoes, easier packing for travel and the ability to skip socks comfortably.

From Vibram: “The concept for this type of footwear was derived from the Japanese custom of packaging items by wrapping them in cloth fabric. Furoshiki is the only sole on the market that wraps around the entire foot. Because the upper is constructed with stretch fabric, it will anatomically fit nicely on any foot type and the hook and loop closure system allows for a quick, easy fit.”

Busting out beyond small proportions, delicate materials and indoor settings, origami has a chance to bloom, bringing bold colors and unexpected patterns to urban surfaces around the world. Paris-based street artist Mademoiselle Maurice installs large-scale origami artworks on public walls, ceilings, crumbling stone castles and even beach rocks, everywhere from Singapore to San Francisco. While some of her creations are made on canvas or installed in galleries, others are made to be destroyed, as ephemeral as real flowers blossoming and then dying on a branch.

Maurice says she was first inspired to work with origami while living in Tokyo for a year. She was there when the devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plant explosion occurred in 2011, and wanted to make art reflecting how she felt about the tragedy. Her first project came from the legend of 1,000 origami cranes, an ancient tale promising that anyone who manages to fold that many tiny paper cranes will be granted a wish by the gods.

Growing up in the urban confines of Paris, which she found rather grey and monotonous, Maurice wanted to add more color to the world with works that “emanate a carousel of emotion.” In the past five years, the young artist has collaborated with heavyweights like Louis Vuitton, Google, Vice Magazine and Issey Miyaké, and her work has been installed in Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, China, Vietnam, Australia, Mexico, the U.S. and many more countries.

“This is my way to stay discrete and not to impose myself too much on the walls,” Maurice said of her choice to use paper outdoors. “But otherwise I love doing something telling me that it will not last, ‘dust thou shalt return to dust.’”