The Ishibashi Ball, better known as Japanese Brocade, is created by Minako Ishibashi and is a variation of the Sonobe unit. It is a relatively easy model to complete and can be made using 6, 12 or even 30 squares!

The Japanese Brocade makes a beautiful ornament and when made small enough, it can even be made into earrings. The one I had tried was the 6-unit brocade. I first used 4-inch squares, then 2 and later 1-inch squares. The 1-inch square brocade was small enough to be made into earrings.

Both solid coloured paper and duo-coloured paper works great for this model. For both sides of paper to show up, there is a slight variation in the folding. Check out the next image for the brocade folded from duo-coloured paper.

There are quite a few tutorials available on the net. I have provided one of the links below. A number of books are also available, which contain the instructions.

Model Details:

Model: Japanese Brocade

Creator: Minako Ishibashi

Books: Origami - The Complete Guide to the Art of Paperfolding, A Handbook of Origami, Action Origami all edited by Rick Beech.

Difficulty Level: Low Intermediate

Paper Ratio: Square

Paper size: 4 inch modules in the first image and 1 inch modules in the next one.

Number of Modules: 6

Tutorial: Youtube.com