Things You'll Need
3 sheets of professional origami paper
Scissors
An elegant and ancient weapon, the katana is a thin sword used by traditional Japanese samurai. For your next origami project, consider making a simple katana. Pairing an origami sword with an origami samurai creates a fun and artistic depiction of Japanese defense and martial arts. For best results, use professional origami paper. You can choose from various colors and patterns to make your paper katana.
Step 1
Place one square of professional origami paper in front of you. It is best to use a flat surface when folding origami. For paper size, consider how large you want your katana sword to be. For larger swords, use 8-inch by 8-inch paper. For smaller swords, use 5-inch by 5-inch paper.
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Step 2
Fold the bottom edge of the paper up to the top, creasing the horizontal line. Fold the bottom edge to the top again. Fold up one more time and crease. This will serve as the handle of the sword later.
Step 3
Set this piece of paper aside for now. With the other sheet of origami paper, cut the paper with scissors so that it measures 8 inches by 4 inches, if using the 8-inch by 8-inch paper.
Step 4
Place the new piece of paper in front of you, with the shorter side toward you. Fold eight accordion folds of equal length. To do so, fold the bottom edge up about 1 inch and crease. Flip the paper over and fold it up an inch again. Continue doing this motion until you have eight sections or an accordion-folded rectangle.
Step 5
Place the third and last piece of square paper in front of you. Take the bottom right corner and fold it up to meet the top left. Crease the paper and open it up again. Fold the bottom right corner to meet the crease line and crease. Do the same with the top left corner.
Step 6
Locate the bottom triangle and fold it into the center and crease. Repeat this with the top triangle. Fold the remaining right triangle in and crease it. This should make a flap above the other folds. Fold the top right end of this triangle slightly, about 1/2 inch, and crease. Repeat with the bottom right end of the triangle.
Step 7
Assemble the pieces together to form the katana. Take the first, long folded paper and slide the end underneath the triangle flap on the third paper. Fold the rectangle backward over the flap so that it extends to create a handle for the katana.
Step 8
Fold the top of the main sword down from the right to the tip of the left so that it overlaps the handle. Repeat this motion with the bottom, folding up all the way to the tip to enclose the handle. Without using scissors, crease these folds to create a pointy and sharp sword tip.
Step 9
Use the accordion piece of paper you set aside and wrap it around the handle of the sword. To do this, place it underneath the handle and fold in the two sides to overlap it. You can fit the sides together from the overlapping sides to keep the hilt in place.
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