How to Make an Origami Ninja Star (Shuriken)
Fold a sharp, interlocking 4-pointed origami ninja star using two square sheets of paper. Learn precise crease alignments, mirrored folds, and locking tucks.
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🧰 Required Tools & Equipment
- ✓ Bone folder or fingernail for creasing
- ✓ Flat rigid work surface
- ✓ Ruler (optional, for crisp edge alignment)
- ✓ Scissors or paper trimmer (if trimming paper to square)
📦 Materials & Supplies
- ✓ 2 square sheets of origami paper (6x6 inch, contrasting colors recommended)
- ✓ 1 sheet of standard scrap paper (optional, for practice)
⚠️ Safety Checkpoints & Warnings
- • Handle paper edges carefully along high-speed creases to prevent painful paper cuts.
- • Never throw completed paper shurikens toward people's faces or pets, as folded tips can cause eye injury.
- • Ensure scissors or cutting tools are kept capped or blunted when sizing square sheets.
📋 Step-by-Step Guide (6 Steps)
Fold Both Sheets into Narrow Strips
Place both square sheets colored-side down on a flat surface. Fold each sheet in half horizontally toward you, crease sharply, and fold in half lengthwise once more in the same direction. Use a bone folder along the edges to create two identical, flat rectangular strips with sharp, tight creases.
- • Two matching narrow paper strips with clean, closed folds along one edge.
- • Uneven edges along the long fold, causing the final star points to buckle.
Create Mirrored Center Folds
Fold each strip in half end-to-end to create a distinct center crease, then unfold them flat. On the first strip, fold the left half downward at a 90-degree angle along the center line and fold the right half upward at 90 degrees. On the second strip, fold in the exact opposite mirror orientation: fold the left half upward and the right half downward.
- • Two mirrored 'L-shaped' or crank-shaped paper units resting side by side.
- • Folding both strips in the exact same direction instead of creating mirror images.
Form Diagonal Triangle End Tips
Flip both strips over so the smooth folded sides face up. On each end of both strips, fold the outer square corners diagonally inward to form a sharp triangle point. Ensure the angled edges run flush with the central vertical edge of each respective piece, creating a parallel parallelogram profile on both units.
- • Both units resemble stylized 'S' or 'Z' shapes with pointed triangle tips at opposite ends.
- • Folding triangle corners outward instead of inward, ruining the geometric lock.
Pre-Crease the Triangle Wings
Fold the pointed triangular ends inward across the center body of each strip along their natural diagonal crease line. Press firmly with a bone folder to set deep, sharp memory folds into the paper. Unfold the tips slightly so each unit rests as an open, spring-loaded diamond/Z-module.
- • Two compact diamond-shaped modular units with distinct diagonal pocket flaps.
- • Creasing too lightly, making the tucking process in subsequent steps difficult and loose.
Assemble Modules in a Perpendicular Cross
Place the first module horizontally on your workspace with its flaps facing upward. Lay the second module vertically across the center of the first module with its flaps facing downward, forming a clean perpendicular plus (+) cross. The smooth center sections of both pieces should be sandwiched together back-to-back.
- • A balanced 4-arm cross configuration with two flaps facing up and two flaps facing down.
- • Placing both pieces flap-side up, which prevents the interlocking pocket mechanism from working.
Lock the Four Star Points into Pockets
Fold the top and bottom triangle flaps of the lower horizontal unit over the vertical piece, tucking each tip deep into the diagonal pocket slots of the top unit. Flip the entire assembly over and fold the remaining two side flaps inward, tucking their tips firmly into the reverse diagonal pockets. Smooth down all seams and point tips until the shuriken lays flat and rigid.
- • A solid, four-pointed symmetrical origami star with all tips tucked tightly into central diagonal pockets.
- • Tucking the flap over the wrong edge rather than inside the pocket slit, causing the star to unravel.
Credit: inspired by an original tutorial by Origami World — watch the original on YouTube.
Don’t have everything?
- No Bone folder? Back of a spoon or smooth pen barrel
- No Origami paper? Standard printer paper cut into identical squares