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Did you know that koi fish can swim up waterfalls? The koi fish face many obstacles and seemingly overcome them all. In Japanese culture the koi are a representation of courage, resilience, and perseverance. They are said to have the strength of a Samurai.

Try taking a piece of paper and folding your own origami koi fish. Let it serve as a reminder of your own courage, strength, resilience, and perseverance. We recommend using a piece of origami paper cut to 3.5″ × 7″.

Instructions

 

1. Start by folding the paper's top edge to align with the left edge and unfold it.

 Step 1

2. Fold the top edge, align with the right edge, crease it well, and then unfold it.

 Step 2

3. Fold the top edge to meet the intersection point formed by the two creases you just made, leaving a crease, then unfold it.

 Step 3

4. Fold the paper in half vertically, crease it well, and unfold it.

 Step 4

5. Fold the left and right edges to align with the middle vertical crease and unfold them.

 Step 5

6. Bring up the left, right, and top edges along the creases indicated by the dotted lines, then flatten the fold.

7. Flip the paper.

 Step 6-7

8. Fold the top left and right corners along the dotted lines to meet the middle vertical line.

 Step 8

9. Fold up the two points of the two top layers along the dotted lines.

 Step 9

10. Fold the paper in half vertically from the right to the left, then fold the right edge to the left along the dotted line [picture 2], and fold it back to the right to align with the right edge indicated by the red line [picture 3]. Finally, expand the paper to the original shape like the first picture, then flip the paper over.

11. Shape the creases shown by the white dotted lines and fold them to align with the middle vertical crease along the black dotted lines. [Slightly press down the top edge, making the top part arched.]

 Step 10-11

12. Turn over the paper.

 Step 12

13. Close the paper upward along, and rotate it 90 degrees horizontally.

 Step 13

14. Fold up the bottom right point of the top layer along the black dotted line.

 Step 14

15. Flip the model over.

 Step 15

16. Similarly, fold up the bottom left point of the top layer along the dotted line, to overlap the bottom layer you just made.

 Step 16

17. Fold up the bottom corner along the dotted line, creating a small triangle. Then fold the top edge of the triangle to align with its bottom edge, and finally unfold them.

 Step 17

18. Expand the model, and flip the paper over.

19. Shape these three creases indicated by the red dotted lines.

 Steps 18-19

20. Pinch the middle section, and fold up the tail part from the right side, then unfold it to create a natural curved state.

 Step 20

21. Flip the model over.

 Step 21

22. Fold down the top left and right corners of the head a little.

23. Flip the model over, that’s your lovely origami koi fish.

 Step 22-23
 

Did You Know:

  • The oldest living koi ever recorded lived to be 226 years old! Hanako, a scarlet koi was born in c. 1751 and lived to see 1977.
  • Most koi names translate from the Japanese words that describe their features. The name might refer to color or colors, or it might give additional qualities of the koi, or might describe the patterns. For example, in Japanese, the word Kohaku means “red and white,” which simply names that variety’s characteristic colors.
  • The origins of the koi carp date back to 200 BC. In the 1800s the Japanese started selectively breeding interesting color variants to enhance the colors and patterning leading to the koi carp we know today.
  • The most expensive koi ever sold at auction was for 1.8 million dollars in Japan at the 2017 All Japan Koi Show.
  • A koi fish was first displayed in Tokyo in the early 1900s—propelling their popularity around Japan. Emperor Hirohito (1926–1989) put koi into the moat of his imperial palace, which caught the eye of the rest of the world and put koi into the spotlight.
 

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