The traditional paper crane is probably the most famous of all origami models. It’s designed after the Japanese red-crowned crane. In Japanese mythology this crane is known as the “Honourable Lord Crane” and it wings carried souls up to heaven.
The Japanese name for this model is “Orizuru” which simply means “Folded crane.” “Ori” is the same “Ori” that you find in the word origami.
An ancient Japanese legend promises that if anyone folds a thousand paper cranes they will be granted a wish by the gods. In same cases you are granted happiness or good luck.
In Japan the crane is said to live for 1,000 years which is why one must fold 1,000 of them. You have to keep all the cranes to get the wish though. If you fold one and give it away that one doesn’t count.
The origami crane’s popularity is largely due to a children’s book written by author Eleanor Coerr called “Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes.”
The story follows a Japanese girl name Sadako who was 2 years old when the United States bombed Japan at the end of World War II. Due to the fall-out from the bombs Sadako developed leukaemia.
In the hospital she spent her time folding origami cranes hoping to make 1,000 of them.
According to Sadako’s family she managed to fold approximately 1,400 paper cranes. Many of these cranes have been donated to places such as the 9-11 memorial in New York City, Pearl Harbour, the Museum of Tolerance and more places as a symbol of peace.
Folding a crane is actually not too difficult. All you need is a single square sheet of paper. We’ve put together the following instructions to walk you through exactly how to fold one yourself.
If you’ve never tried origami before then we recommend you check out our beginner’s guide first. Once you know the basic folds then this will be much easier.
Are you ready to fold? Then lets get started!
How did you do? Tell us in the comments and feel free to share a photo of your paper crane with us. We’d love to see it.
What size paper do I need to start with to end up with a crane that fits into a 2″x2″ box?
Roughly speaking I’d say you need around 3″ x 3″ of paper to get the crane to fit in that box.
This is going to depend a bit on how you fold it, what angles the neck and tail are at, if the wings are folded up or down, etc.
Try with a 3″ x 3″ square of paper and see if that works and then adjust up or down if you need.
That’s going to be a pretty tiny crane though so good luck!
paper cranes are easy
hard actually
No it’s not gurl I’ve made like more than 3 cranes in a day.this is what I call…Pro skills!!!
I have made almost 500 cranes this summer. My goal is to reach 1000 before the end of the year. Once you get going they are really easy!
These are the best directions ever!
This is a great introductory origami guide, great job!
…
thanks for the instructions
Ummmm……. I did not understand anything past step 14…
My brother can make paper cranes that is smaller than his fingernail, and I can’t make anything… Lol
Wow, that’s tiny.
Who cooollll
Thanks for the explanation
Yo, Hullo You bunch are awesome people. I wanna make an origami kingdom. Will you immigrate their?
i will gladly move if u have origami mashed potatoes
Hahah me too!
I will come!!
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Love all these origami projects. Thanks for posting such helpful origami DIY tutorial.
Your drawings are exquisite. Would you be willing to allow them to be reprinted in a memoir?
Hi, what do you mean?
I’m writing a family memoir about my adult son, who has a serious brain injury. We folded a thousand paper cranes for him. One of the things I’m writing about is that experience. I’d like to include in the book (which, yes, I would like to eventually publish) instructions for how to fold a paper crane. Your directions are beautiful, elegant and exactly what I’m looking for. You can reach me directly at my email address if you’re willing to talk about letting me use the drawings.
Thanks.
It’s my first craft ever…Can’t express the joy I’m feeling right now.
Instructions were very clear.
Thank you.
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Just i can say “such a wow”
Tank you so much.
Wadded it up and threw it across the room at step 15. Nothing I did made it look at all like the diagram, and I have no idea what “Continue lifting up and push in the sides along the creases you made in the previous couple of steps.” means. So much for a soothing hobby.
right? i have no clue what step 14 and 15 mean!
Once done with 13, you raise the top flap of the paper and pull it to the top of the model, whilst you’re doing that, both sides fold inwards along the folds in #13
Wow, it’s so easy to fold paper with your instructions! Thanks for your work!
I definitely would not recommend this version. I was a kid and made over a hundred cranes to put on a string- I think I got close to 300 in just a weekend. This version is extremely difficult and full of unnecessary foldds so that if you are working with 3×3 paper (I am working with 4×4) and the folds were still ridiculous and created creases that you can’t do anything with.
Try a different website. There are way too many steps and I think that other versions look way better than this.
When you get better you can definitely skip some of the folds like the ones that make reverse folds a bit easier but these are really detailed instructions for beginners. If it’s a traditional origami crane everyone will follow the same steps. You might be confusing this model with the traditional flapping bird. That has less steps and a thicker neck and tail.
Yeah, I agree. Way too confusing an extra unnecessary steps.
How do you do step 4
You open that flap of paper and push the whole thing flat into the diamond shape you see in the next step.
I got about halfway through and got confused. Any suggestions?
Which step are you stuck on?
there are a ridiculous amount of unnecessary steps in this
The instructions are designed for beginners. I’ve had a bunch of people tell me they had trouble with instructions that just said things like “repeat these steps on the other side” which is why I drew out every step here. Once you’re familiar with the folding sequence you can definitely skip over some of these steps, especially with some of the Inside Reverse Folds.
hi this wasn’t very easy but i got a good result
how did you do step 14?
easy peasy
This is a nice example how to make origami. Thank you Mr Peacock!
How do you do steps14-16?
no idea
I’m really proud to make my first ORIZURU. I just need to do more practice and ensure i hit the 1,000 target to get the wish and happiness in my life… hehe
hello can someone help me i am little……… please!!!!!
^><^
that is a good origin crane ^..^
i am confused trough 25-29 can some one help me?
I cant, but you got this far. Can you help me 14-16?
I am stuck still on the first step 🧬🌈🦄🍹😢💝💖. Can someone please help me?
You just need to fold it into a triangular shape. Make sure that you don’t have any parts that are off.
This is impossible. Step 16 can only be done by defying the laws of physics
step 14-16 cant be done I need help
where does the flap come from on step 7?
How do you fold other stuff?
[…] took me about five-and-a-half careful minutes to fold one paper crane, a meditative process that gradually calmed the overactive fight-flight part of my tired brain. […]
this is so really really hard I had to get my friend to help with it from step 7 till it was finished😥😥😥😪😪😭😭😿😿😿
Bro wtf is step 7 help me pls
This isn’t helping at all, I don’t even understand how one part turns into the other. I guess I need to keep trying to achieve the perfect Traditional Paper Crane. Thanks for the ‘not’ so useful instructions.
Thank you very much.
Your instructions really clear for me. It’s really helpful when I try to make my orizuru.
I did the steps as you showed and got a very good result. Thank you for sharing. I found another site. What do you think about this site? https://www.origamiarts.net/
Everything was good until I reached the inside reverse fold. Still unsure how to do that
Check the beginner’s guide if you need help with any of the folds