The Ougi-tsuru is perfect for festive settings like New Year’s or weddings. Although it features a crane gracefully perched on a fan, the entire piece is folded from a single sheet of paper. It may look complex, but it requires only one small cut to complete.

Please give it a try! Even a single Fan Crane has a striking presence that will beautifully decorate any space.

It looks just like a paper crane with a fan attached.
First, fold the fan, then fold the crane.

Now, let’s take a look at how to fold it.

How to Fold Fan Crane

First, fold the paper into quarters.
Then fold it in half again.

Check the orientation of the bag and the fold before making the cut.

Open it so that the fold runs horizontally.
Fold the bottom half in half, then fold it in half again, and fold it one more time.

In short, fold it a total of three times.

Unfold it, then fold it into an accordion fold.

Next, fold it in half.

yurari

The key here is to check the orientation.

We’ll make an origami crane using these two overlapping layers.

Fold it into a triangle along the cut line.

Fold it in half again to make a triangle.
Then unfold it to make a square.

It’s difficult to fold the fan from the side with the fan attached, so try turning it over, creasing it, and then unfolding it.

On the other side, open it as if lifting a fan.

Next, we’ll make the neck and tail.
Fold the back side in the same way.

Open the fan part, and you’re done.

Using masking tape

Also, if you wrap the bottom of the fan with masking tape, it will look even more like a fan.
At that time, I folded about ten fan-cranes using various types of origami paper.
For some reason, only one of them turned out to be a fan-crane facing forward instead of sideways.

Even though I folded them all the same way.

A fan-shaped crane facing forward

I unfolded the fan-shaped crane facing forward—which I’d made by chance—and took a closer look.

After folding it accordion-style and then in half, it looks a little different.

With the sideways crane, the cut was on the left side, but this time it’s on the right.

Then, fold down the pouch-like section to form a triangle.

After that, fold it the same way as the sideways crane.

However, I found it a little tricky to fold when making the crane’s neck and tail.

When the crane is facing forward, it looks really dynamic.

Displaying the Fan Crane

I’ve paired the flower-shaped rice cakes with fan-shaped cranes on a branch.
Even at my age, I still take great care when folding gold origami.

I folded it using a piece of origami paper that’s one-quarter the usual size.
It’s a little tricky to fold, but the small ones are cute.

I folded it out of red origami paper.
Since ancient times, red has been considered a color that wards off evil spirits.
Torii gates are red, too.
It’s true—using red really adds to the festive atmosphere.
Two more ways to fold the fan-shaped crane

One more way to fold a fan crane

Actually, using the same folding method as for the fan crane, you can fold another type of crane.

Watch a video tutorial on how to fold it

On Pinterest, we show you how to fold it in a video.

In Conclusion

That concludes our guide on how to fold the fan crane.
It’s a very distinctive origami design.
Why not try displaying it at celebratory gatherings or during the New Year?

yurari

I hope you enjoy the process of folding as much as the finished piece.
Don’t worry if it’s not perfect at first—every fold is a step toward your own unique creation.
Happy folding!

投稿 Fan Crane: The Elegant Fan Crane for Auspicious Occasions は Japanese paper arts に最初に表示されました。