Yoshimoto Cube developments

Posted by Dave Brill on January 23, 2016 in Uncategorized

Yoshimoto Cube No 1 replica

The wonderful Yoshimoto Cube has fascinated me for many years – ever since Paul Jackson showed me a papercraft version ages ago. I recall that Thoki Yenn had a try at an origami version, as did Kuni Kasahara.

It was Dave Mitchell’s Stellated Rhombic Dodecahedron, based on the classic wood block version (fig 88) that gave me the clue to resolving the origami design which I called the Double Star Flexicube. The title was given before I was aware that the originator was Naoki Yoshimoto.

In fact, Naoki Yoshimoto designed three related and interconnecting cubes which are shown on this video. You can buy the whole set from here.

Here are the diagrams for the first version of the Double Star Flexicube (aka Yoshimoto Cube no1). They can also be found in Brilliant Origami.

Recently I revised the units so they can be folded from squares, to provide an extra lock, and I made the replica of YC1 seen at the top of this page.

Yoshimoto Cube no 1, single sheet sections

The next development was to build the half cube sections from single sheets, which means that is the construction is stronger, but much more difficult to build.