Japanese origami master shares folding steps to make something more challenging than a paper crane.

Aside from origami’s pure beauty, what makes the paper-folding art form so fascinating is its versatility, From a sheet of paper, even beginners can quickly learn to make such popular Japanese motifs as cranes, maple leaves, and shuriken.

Of course, those simple projects are just the beginning of what you can do with origami. If, for example, your skills are on the same level as origami artist Masato Kikuchi’s, for example, you can make a Japanese schoolgirl, complete with school uniform and knee-high socks.

https://twitter.com/PSvndBguHfKPMTl/status/896480757715148802

The amazing artwork was photographed by Japanese Twitter user @PSvndBguHfKPMTl, and shows an astounding level of detail. Kikuchi, a member of Orist, an origami club at the University of Tokyo, included the uniform’s sailor collar and ribbon, and also made sure the skirt has a series of crisp pleats. The schoolgirl even has a modest haircut that would keep her on the safe side of most schools’ dress code and grooming rules, and appears to be wearing a mask, perhaps to ward off germs so she won’t get sick before an upcoming exam.

And as if all of this wasn’t impressive enough, there’s the fact that Kikuchi folded the schoolgirl out of a single standard-size piece of uncut origami paper. In spite of having a near-mystical level of skill, Kikuchi isn’t a magician, and thus has no qualms about revealing his secrets, displaying the pattern to fold the schoolgirl next to his finished artwork for all to see.

While it’s a bold move for an artist to show others how to duplicate his work, Kikuchi probably doesn’t have to worry about a proliferation of origami schoolgirls from other enthusiasts making his creation seem any less special. Our brains are having a hard enough time just processing all those folds, and we’re fairly certain the intricate, precise creases are well beyond what our fingers are capable of copying. But even on that front, Kikuchi is willing to help, as he periodically gives lectures through the Japan Origami Academic Society, which lists its classes here.

Source: Jin
Images: Twitter/@PSvndBguHfKPMTl

Follow Casey on Twitter, where the only origami form he’s mastered is making rocks.