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Last updated 5/8/2024

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My Origami Birds / Flowers / Animals and Fishes, 1964
 

This was a series of 3 colourfully illustrated board books (of the kind normally made for very young children) produced by Zokeisha Publications of Tokyo and published anonymously in Tokyo in 1964. Each book also included paper to fold. The contents are a mishmash of designs of various styles, many of which make use of cuts.

Versions of these three books were also published in other countries and languages:

In the USA by Crown Publishers Inc, in New York in 1964 as 'My Origami Birds', 'My Origami Flowers' and 'My Origami Animals and Fishes'.

In Germany by Otto Maier Verlag, in Ravensburg 'Bunte Origami Voegel', 'Bunte Origami Tierwelt' and 'Bunte Origami Blumen' (year of publication and titles not known)

In The Netherland by Cantecleer de Bilt (year of publication and titles not known)

In France by Fernand Nathan Editeur, Paris in 1965, as 'Mes Jolis Origami: Oiseau Multicolores', 'Mes Jolis Origami:Fleurs et Bouquets' and 'Mes Jolis Origami: Animaux et Poissons'.

In his article Isao Honda - An annotated list of his books David Lister says 'At the time of publication there was some discussion in “The Origamian” as to whether the books were by Yoshizawa or Honda. They were definitely not by Yoshizawa. Many of the models are traditional, but some of the birds in “My Origami Birds” are the same as those in books by Isao Honda and they may be his work used without his permisssion. On the other hand, Honda shows a mountain fold with a letter “P” beside a dotted line, whereas these books do not, so his authorship is questionable.'

The Analysis on this page is based on the USA versions. As far as I know the content of all the various versions is identical.

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Analysis

My Origami Animals and Fishes

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The Pig

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Mouse

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Rabbit (Compound Representational Design)

Compound design from two right angle isosceles triangles of different sizes.

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Turtle (Cut)

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The Cut Whale

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The Cut Goldfish

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Tropical Fish (Cut)

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My Origami Birds

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The Paper Crane

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Duck (Cut)

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The Hen with Legs

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The Wild Goose

From an equilateral triangle

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Swan (Cut)

From an equilateral triangle

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The Cut Owl

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My Origami Flowers

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The first five designs, Rose, Clematis, Hydrangea, Camellia and Water Lily are all developed from the same basic form.

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The Cactus Flower

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The Iris

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Gladiolus

Developed from the Iris

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The Lily

Note that the six-petalled version is made by combining two three-petalled flowers.

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Calla Lily (Cut Glued Compound design)

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