I agree that the Sonobe models are good for beginners. In my
experience, the 6-unit cube is a good one to start, followed by the
12-unit augmented octahedron.
Interestingly, according to Mitsunobu Sonobe (in an interview in ORU
magazine in 1996), his teaching of his unit is what led to it becoming
so popular. As he told it, he had discovered the 6-unit cube, which he
called the "color box", but neither he nor the people around him thought
much of it. It was nice, but he himself was more interested in creating
flowers -- at the time, he thought that would be the pathway to fame.
One day he was asked to teach a group, and when he was deciding what to
teach he reasoned that the color box unit was easy to fold, and
assembling the box took a little while, so it was a good thing to teach.
After the class, one of the students sent him a box with the 30-unit
augmented icosahedron and a note saying this is what can be done with
thirty. Sonobe and Kunihiko Kasahara were very impressed, and they went
on to discover the 12-unit model (and likely others), and they also
spread the word. Some time later, the students at Waseda University
organized a "color box presentation"; they invited Sonobe, and he went
and was very impressed with all the things that they'd done.
The rest is history. Sonobe appreciated the irony that he had hoped to
become famous in the origami world for creating flowers, but instead he
had done so with a model that at first he had not thought much of.
Happy folding,
Mike Naughton
On 1/24/2026 11:08 PM, wanderer via Origami wrote:
This is my first choice as well.
And sometimes we even fold them starting with 6” squares
Best,
Vishakha
On Jan 25, 2026, at 02:53, Julia Palffy via Origami
<[email protected]> wrote:
Hi,
I found models with the Sonobe unit (up to 12 units) a good idea - the modules
are easy to learn, and people can help each other putting them together.
Hoping this helps,
Julia Palffy
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