Many origami lovers begin their study of this ancient Japanese art by trying to figure out how to make cranes out of paper. Such interest in this particular figure is by no means accidental. The fact is that the paper crane has always been considered a very beautiful figure, besides filled with a rather deep meaning. First of all, it is a symbol of prosperity, happiness and prosperity. In addition, Japanese paper cranes , according to people not only in the country of the Rising Sun, bring good luck and help to spend your free time properly.

This graceful and fragile figure at first glance seems very difficult to execute, but in fact it is not so difficult to fold it. Only care, accuracy and strict adherence to instructions are needed. I must say that the crane is one of the oldest figures in origami, and it is with it that a sad and touching story dates back to the 20th century. After the American bombing of Hiroshima in 1945, the girl Sadako Sasaki, who was exposed to radiation, became ill, and the diagnosis of the doctors was the most disappointing. The young dreamer, who knew how to fold a paper crane, believed in an old legend that said that whoever made a thousand of these paper birds would achieve his most cherished desire. The girl did not have time to make so many cranes. However, this story itself was forever associated with a paper bird. Since then, people bring fragile cranes to Sadako’s grave. Another Japanese legend says that the desire will come true even if you make just one bird. So it's worth making it up and getting to work.

So how to make cranes out of paper? First, you need to lay out a square sheet of paper on the table, laying it so that it turns out a rhombus (that is, an angle to itself). Now the sheet is folded down horizontally. The result is a triangle. This figure should be folded in half from right to left, as a result, a rectangular triangle is obtained, in which the right side is the place of the fold, and the top is two parts superimposed on each other.

The next step in the process, explaining how to make cranes out of paper, is bending the superimposed portion of the triangle so that it aligns with the right side. The resulting figure is smoothed by hand. Now the left corner is taken, it opens like a sail and folds inward, so that the result is a rhombus. Everything is smooth again. The next action is this: you need to expand a part of the right triangle (the one that turned out to be on the back side), take the whole figure by the right corner and fold it inward. Result: a rhombus of double vertical triangles. Now you need to pull the left and right outer corners of the rhombus to the middle of the bend, smooth everything and deploy it again, and then bend the angle that is from above, down along the line that turned out after the previous action. Then it should be straightened, resulting in new folds. They will be needed for the next stages of execution.
How to make cranes out of paper? Everything is simple, you should carefully open the lower corner of the upper part of the rhombus to make a sail, and bend the sides of the sail along the vertical fold and fold up. The same thing is done for the other side. Then you need to bend the lower right corner of the figure several times in one direction or another to make a crease. The left corner of the rhombus folds with the middle of the fold. The left corner of the figure is bent diagonally (we got the bird’s head).
It remains only to make the bird a beak, bending the tip down for this. The right leg bends back and is pulled up (this is our tail). The final action is the fixation of all folds. Everything, the bird is ready. So, everyone can easily figure out how to make cranes out of paper and create this little piece of happiness for themselves.