【Origami Design】A Simple and Cute Raccoon Dog Made from a Single Sheet of Paper

This is a simple and cute raccoon dog made from a single sheet of origami paper. With no complex folds and only a few easy steps, it’s a great design for beginners to try.

Design Process

First, I start by sketching the final design.I wanted to create something simple yet instantly recognizable as a raccoon dog, so I decided to focus only on the face for this piece.

When people think of a raccoon dog’s face, I believe there are two main types of imagery that come to mind:

① A rounded, stylized version, and
② A more realistic depiction closer to an actual raccoon dog.

At Kamiori-Studio, I typically base my designs on linear, geometric forms that arise naturally through the act of folding paper. So for this project, I chose to pursue the more realistic type (②) while maintaining a stylized structure.

Version 1.0

image of racoon dog ver 1.0 (square) — *Racoon dog Ver 1.0*

This was the first design I created. The defining feature is the three-dimensional folding used to form the eyes. However, it requires a sunken fold, which makes the process a bit more complex.

Version 1.5

image of racoon dog ver 1.5 (square) — *Racoon dog Ver 1.5*

In this version, the eyes are represented using silhouette alone. When you observe a real tanuki from a distance, the eyes often blend into the surrounding black fur, and the raised area of the eye patch is what gives the impression of “eyes.” I settled on this form for that reason.

Interestingly, pandas 🐼 share a similar pattern — the part we perceive as the “eye” is just a patch of differently colored fur, and the real eyes can look rather intense.

By simplifying the fold used for the eyes, I was able to eliminate the need for the sunken fold, which made both the design and folding process cleaner. When a model can be completed with only the essential number of steps, the final form tends to look more refined. Minimizing unnecessary folds prevents unwanted creases, makes the process more straightforward, and helps you achieve more precise folds overall.

Tutorial Video

Crease Pattern

Here is the crease pattern for this model (the set of fold lines visible when the paper is unfolded after completing the basic pre-creasing).
Mountain folds are shown in red, and valley folds in blue.

Folding diagram

Here’s a folding diagram I created for filming a short video.