Origami, the Japanese art of paper folding, is a craft practiced worldwide, and considering you only need some paper to get started, its popularity is no surprise.

Though the materials are easy enough to prepare, the difficulty level can shoot right up depending on the intricacy of the folds required. But if you’re up for a challenge, there’s a book coming out in Japan this year that details instructions for what are surely some of the hardest origami models to complete in the world.

The book contains guides for 21 figures created by four legends of the origami world, and is called ‘Chozetsu no Origami’.

This includes the ‘Winged Qilin’. This elaborate origami creation is made with a whopping 266 folds and is credited to the internationally-renowned Satoshi Kamiya. A qilin is a creature from Chinese mythology, which is called ‘kirin’ in Japanese.

There’s also less elaborate models to try out (but they’re still pretty challenging, let’s be honest), like this rooster from Katsuta Kyohei.

Or this impressive origami bear.

If you preorder the book from Rakuten Books before the release date of 5th September, you can even get some special folding paper included, which is perfect for the fiddly folds necessary for these epic projects.


By - grape Japan editorial staff.