Sonobe Table

Model Shape # of Units Finished Unit

to Fold Crease Pattern

Toshie Takahama’s 3
Jewel

Cube 6

Large Cube 12

Octahedral
Assembly 12

Icosahedral
Assembly 30

Spiked Pentakis
Dodecahedral 60
Assembly

Dodecahedral 90
Assembly

2 Sonobe Variations

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 Sonobe Assembly Basics
Sonobe assemblies are essentially “pyra- Sonobe unit and how to form one pyramid.
midized” polyhedra with each pyramid When constructing a polyhedron, the key
consisting of three Sonobe units and each thing to remember is that the diagonal ab of
unit, in turn, being a part of two adjacent each Sonobe unit will lie along an edge of the
pyramids. The figure below shows a generic polyhedron.

a Pocket
Tab
Tab

Pocket b

A generic sonobe
Forming one pyramid
unit representation

Sonobe Assembly Guide for a Few Polyhedra

1.   Toshie’s Jewel: Crease three finished units as tabs and pockets. This assembly is also sometimes
explained in the table on page 2. Form a pyramid known as a Crane Egg.
as above. Then turn the assembly upside down 2.  Cube Assembly: Crease six finished units as
and make another pyramid with the three loose explained in the table on page 2.

Each face will be made up of

3
the center square of one unit
and the tabs of two other units. 4
Do Steps 1 and 2 to form one
face. Do Steps 3 and 4 to form
one corner or vertex. Continue 1 2
interlocking in this manner to
arrive at the finished cube.

Sonobe Variations 3

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 3.   Large Cube Assembly: Crease 12 finished units as explained on page 2.

5
The 12-unit large cube is the only assembly
that does not involve pyramidizing. Each
6 face is made up of four units with each unit
3 being a part of two adjacent faces. Do Steps
1−4 to form one face. Do Steps 5 and 6 to
2 4
form a vertex or corner. Continue forming
the faces and vertices similarly to complete
1
the cube.

4.  Octahedral Assembly: Crease 12 finished units as explained on page 2.

Assemble four units in a ring as shown

5
following the number sequence. Take a 2
fifth unit and do Steps 5 and 6 to form a
1
pyramid. Continue adding three more units
3
to form a ring of four pyramids. Complete
model by forming a total of eight pyramids 4 6
arranged in an octahedral symmetry.

5.  Icosahedral Assembly: Crease 30 finished units as explained on page 2.  

7
6

1 Assemble five units in a ring as shown

following sequence numbers. Take a
2
sixth unit and do Steps 6 and 7 to form a
pyramid. Continue adding four more units
5 to form a ring of five pyramids. Complete
model by forming a total of 20 pyramids
3 arranged in an icosahedral symmetry.
4

4 Sonobe Variations

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 6.  Spiked Pentakis Dodecahedral Assembly: This Form a ring of five pyramids. Surround this with
model will be discussed at the end of this chapter. five rings of six pyramids such that each of the
Please see page 15. first five original pyramids is also a part of a ring
of sixes. Continue in this manner to complete the
7.  Dodecahedral Assembly: This is similar to the ball. You can also think about this assembly as a
icosahedral assembly. Fold 90 units and crease the dodecahedron where the faces are not flat but con-
finished units as explained in the table on page 2. sist of a ring of five pyramids.

Striped Sonobe Cube, Swan Sonobe Octahedral Assembly, and Daisy Sonobe Large Cube.

90-unit dodecahedral assembly of Snow-Capped Sonobe 1.

Sonobe Variations 5

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 Daisy Sonobe

1. Crease and open 2. Bring two corners

diagonals. to center.

45

3. Turn over. 4. Bring edges to center,

top layer only.

6. Fold as shown,
5. Tuck back top and bottom corners under top layer only.
first layer. Fold in left and right corners.

6 Sonobe Variations

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 7. Mountain fold corners and 8. Valley fold as shown.
tuck back.
Pocket

* Tab

* Tab

9. Tuck flaps marked

*
in opening underneath.
Pocket
Finished Unit

Assembly

Refer to pages 2–5 to determine how

many units to fold, the crease pattern
on the finished unit, and how to assemble.

insert

12-unit large cube

assembly

6-unit cube
assembly

12-unit octahedral
assembly

Daisy Sonobe 7

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 Striped Sonobe

1.Valley fold into thirds and open. 2 .Valley fold and open as shown.

4.Turn over.

3.Valley fold twice on each

edge.

5. Fold corners, then valley

fold existing creases.

6.Valley fold corners.

8 Sonobe Variations

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 * Pocket

Tab
*
7. Tuck flaps marked
in opening underneath.
* Tab

Pocket
Finished Unit

Pocket

A Variation: Tab
To get narrower stripes of
white, fold into thirds instead Tab
of halves in Step 3.
Pocket

Assembly
Refer to pages 2–5 to determine how
how many units to fold, the crease
pattern on the finished unit, and how
to assemble.
insert

12-unit octahedral
assembly

6-unit cube 12-unit large

assembly cube assembly

Striped Sonobe 9

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 Snow-Capped Sonobe 1

90

1. Cupboard fold and open. 2. Fold corners, then rotate 90º.

3. Fold corners to bisect 4 . Re-crease folds from

marked angles. Step 1.

5 . Turn over. 6 . Fold corners.

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 45

8 . Rotate.
7. Turn over.

Pocket

Assembly
Tab

Tab

Pocket
Finished Unit
insert

Refer to pages 2–5 to determine how

many units to fold, the crease pattern
on the finished unit, and how to assemble.

12-unit octahedral
assembly

6-unit cube assembly 12-unit large cube

assembly

Snow-Capped Sonobe 1 11

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 Snow-Capped Sonobe 2
1/3 1/3

1. Cupboard fold and open. 2 . Fold thirds as shown.

3. Fold corners. 4. Re-crease cupboard folds. 5. Turn over.

6. Fold corners. 7. Turn over.

12 Sonobe Variations

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 Pocket

Tab

Tab

Pocket Finished Unit

45

8 . Rotate. Assembly

Refer to pages 2–5 to determine

how many units to fold, the crease
pattern on the finished unit, and
insert
how to assemble.

12-unit octahedral
assembly

6-unit cube assembly 12-unit large cube

assembly

Snow-Capped Sonobe 2 13

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 Swan Sonobe
Start by doing Steps 1 through 5 of Daisy Sonobe on page 6.

6. Crease and open to bisect angles. 7. Mountain fold existing

creases to tuck underneath.

*
8. Valley fold as shown.
*
9. Tuck flaps marked
in opening underneath.
*
Pocket

Tab Assembly

Tab

Pocket
Finished Unit
Refer to pages 2–5 to determine how many
insert
units to fold, the crease pattern on the
finished unit, and how to assemble.

12-unit octahedral
assembly

6-unit cube assembly

12 -unit large cube assembly

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 Spiked Pentakis Dodecahedron
Make 60 units of any Sonobe variation. This example uses Snow-Capped Sonobe 2 (see page 12). (This
60-unit Sonobe construction was first known to have been made by Michael J. Naughton in the 1980s.)
a a

b b
1. Crease all 60
3 . Re-crease
units as shown. 2 . Orient two mountain fold.
units as shown a
and insert.

4. Turn over.

5 . Re-crease valley 6. Make 30 such

fold and insert tab compound units.
in pocket.

7. Assemble compound units

as above, five in a ring.
Complete assembling in a
dodecahedral manner to arrive
at the finished model.

Spiked Pentakis Dodecahedron 15

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 Cosmos Ball Variation (top left), Calla Lily Ball (top right), Phlox Ball (middle), Fantastic (bottom left), and Stella (bottom right).

16 Enhanced Sonobes

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 2  Enhanced Sonobes
The units made in this chapter are Sonobe-type folding with a rectangle, often with spectacular re-
units but with some enhancements. Hence, they sults. Sometimes I see no need to be a slave to tra-
will be called Enhanced Sonobe or eSonobe units. dition. It is a positive outcome when arts can adapt
To assemble these units, follow the same general and change with the influences of new generations
instructions as previously presented in Chapter 1, of thinkers.
“Sonobe Variations” (page 1). The Phlox Ball, un- There are origami ways to achieve the rectangles
like the other models, will involve additional steps of desired aspect ratios, starting with a square pa-
after completion of assembly. The 12-unit and the per. You may refer to the section “Rectangles from
30-unit assemblies are recommended for these Squares” in the Appendix on page 65. When you
units. Larger assemblies may not produce pleasing size one rectangle, use that as a template to cut all
results. the other rectangles needed for your model.
In this chapter we will use rectangles as our start- The paper used for these models should not be
ing paper instead of squares. This is a deviation thicker than the kami variety (regular origami pa-
from traditional origami—some might call it evo- per available in most craft stores). Paper too thick
lution. As in so many art forms, deviations often will lead to uncontrollable holes at the five-point
lead to a host of additional possibilities. It is not vertices and will diminish the visual impact of the
at all uncommon for origami artist to begin their final piece.

Recommendations
Paper Size: Rectangles 3.5"–4.5" in width, length
will vary proportionately with model.
Paper Type: Kami or slightly thicker (but not
much thicker). Try harmony paper for Cosmos
and Calla Lilly Balls.

Finished Model Size

Paper 4" wide yields model of height 4.75".

Enhanced Sonobes 17

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 Cosmos Ball

1. Start with 1: 2 paper. Crease 3. Fold and open

2. Fold corners, then re -
and open centerlines . Then as shown.
crease folds from Step 1.
cupboard fold and open.
*
*

4 . Inside reverse 5. Tuck areas marked 6 . Valley fold pre-

fold corners.
* under flap below. existing crease.

18 Enhanced Sonobes

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 7 . Fold corner. 8 . Fold flap up. 9 . Fold flap down.

Reorient the unit so that you are

x 30
looking down at the point shown.
Gently pull flaps out so that the unit
now looks like the figure below.

Pocket
Finished Unit
Tab
10 . Repeat Steps 7–9
on the reverse side. Tab

Pocket

Assemble the 30 units as

explained on page 4.

Cosmos Ball 19

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