Make your own origami frog using our activity sheet and see how far you can make it jump!
A jumping frog famously appears in The Old Pond, one of the best-known poems in the Japanese language:
古池や 蛙飛び込む 水の音
The old pond – / a frog jumps in / the sound of water
This poem, called haiku in Japanese, was composed in 1686 by Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694), one of the most celebrated poets of Japan’s Edo period. Typically, haiku consist of 17 syllable-like units, divided into three phrases, in a five–seven–five structure and include seasonal references to nature known as kigo (lit. ’season words’). Here the kigo is kawazu (frog), suggesting spring, the time of year when frogs emerge from hibernation.
Share your completed jumping frogs on social media using #japanhouselondon and tag us @japanhouseldn.