How to make a Japanese origami box
Japanese Origami Box: try all 21 steps in the 3D player. Turn and replay every move. Print the complete diagram sheet or save it as PDF.
The winged Japanese box recorded in 1902 as La Boite Japonaise, prepared from a square base.
- You need
- One square of paper. No glue or scissors.
- Start
- Start colored side up, with a corner pointing up. The finished winged form uses both sides of the sheet.
- Tips
- Keep the first raised points inside as you turn the pages.
- Use thin, firm paper so the eventual rim can hold its shape.
Your model is ready
All four corner locks are folded. To open the box, gently part the four branches at the mouth, press the floor flat along the guide crease, and let the wings spread outward to form the bowl. The finished Japanese box with all four corner locks folded, before opening its bowl.
Step-by-step diagrams
Steps 1–6
- 1
Crease a diagonal
Bring the top corner down to the bottom corner, press, and open.
- 2
Crease the other diagonal
Bring the left corner to the right corner, press, and open.
- 3
Turn over
Turn the paper over, keeping a corner pointing up.
- 4
Crease edge to edge
Fold the bottom-left edge up to the top-right edge, press, and open.
- 5
Crease the other way
Fold the bottom-right edge up to the top-left edge, press, and open.
- 6
Turn back
Turn the paper back over, keeping a corner pointing up.
Steps 7–12
- 7
Collapse into a square
Hold the bottom corner. Push the left and right corners in and down so the paper collapses along the creases into a small square, open end at the bottom.
- 8
Raise the inner point (front)
Fold just the front loose bottom point up to the middle of the small square.
- 9
Turn over
Turn the small square over, keeping the loose end below.
- 10
Raise the inner point (back)
Fold just the front loose bottom point up to the middle of the small square.
- 11
Turn a page (back)
Fold the front left flap across to the right along the vertical middle. Keep the raised point folded inside.
- 12
Turn over
Turn the model over to hide the other raised point.
Steps 13–18
- 13
Turn a page (front)
Fold the front left flap across to the right along the vertical middle. Keep the raised point folded inside.
- 14
Raise the outer point (front)
Fold the remaining front bottom point up to the middle, taking its small inner fold with it.
- 15
Turn over
Turn the model over to reach the last loose bottom point.
- 16
Raise the outer point (back)
Fold the last bottom point up the same way.
- 17
Prepare the floor
Fold the closed top down along the line through the two side corners, press, and open again.
- 18
Lock the rear left corner
Fold the rear left corner away from you, bringing its point up to the middle of the rim. Keep the front corner in place.
Steps 19–21
- 19
Lock the rear right corner
Fold the matching rear right corner away from you to the middle of the rim.
- 20
Lock the front left corner
Fold the loose front left corner up to the middle of the rim. Take the folded packet together.
- 21
Lock the front right corner
Fold the last front corner up the same way, keeping the other three locks closed.
- ✓
Finish
All four corner locks are folded. To open the box, gently part the four branches at the mouth, press the floor flat along the guide crease, and let the wings spread outward to form the bowl. The finished Japanese box with all four corner locks folded, before opening its bowl.
Fold next
Sanbo ↗
The traditional Japanese offering tray, with a square bowl and two broad side flaps, completed in a clean Origami Tutor sequence.
Star box ↗
The traditional four-point star box, pictured in Japan in 1734, with a colored bowl and white points.
Candy box ↗
An Origami Tutor candy-tray design with a square bowl and four broad, outward-folded rims. Its corner pleats hold the walls together without cuts or glue.
Kikuzara ↗
The traditional Japanese chrysanthemum dish, with four pleated points around a shallow center, completed in a clean Origami Tutor sequence.