Cranes for Peace
The Sadako Sasaki
story.
In the beginning…
• HIROSHIMA
- A once a peaceful city on the coast of
the Seto Inland Sea….
… became a supply and logistics
base for the Japanese military and
was so right up until World War II …
… maybe this was why on August 6th 1945,
the Enola Gay (a U.S. B-29 bomber)
dropped a nuclear weapon nick-named Little
Boy onto the city below.
This nuclear attack resulted in the deaths of
an estimated 80,000 innocent civilians. The
city, of course, lay in ruins.
The city has since been rebuilt as a
“peace memorial city”, and the city
strongly backs the abolition of the use
of nuclear weapons. In it is the
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, in
this park stands a statue of Sadako
Sasaki, originally a survivor of the
Hiroshima bombing who later became a
victim of the after effects of nuclear
warfare.
The Hiroshima Peace
Memorial Park is a far cry
from the savage ruins the city
was left in after the
devastating bomb.
Sadako Sasaki was born in 1943. She was
just two years old when the atom bomb was
dropped on Hiroshima. She was one of the
lucky ones to survive.
Sadako was a happy and healthy child. She
was athletic and loved to take part in sports….
… until one day, Sadako was
practising for a big race when
she became dizzy and fell to the
ground. It was 1955, and
Sadako was only 11 years old.
She was taken into hospital.
The air, water, and surrounding areas of Hiroshima
were affected by the nuclear bomb that had been
dropped 10 years earlier, lots of people became sick
as a result of the remaining radiation and toxins.
Sadako was one of them and at 11 years of age, she
was diagnosed with Leukemia, known in Hiroshima as
the “atom bomb” disease.
A friend of Sadako told her that there was an old Japanese
legend which said that anyone who folds 1000 paper cranes
would be granted one wish…
…hoping that she would become well
enough to run again, Sadako set
about folding paper cranes, using the
Japanese art of Origami.
Unfortunately, Sadako passed away that year, on October
25th. She was 12 years old. While she was ill, Sadako had folded
over 1000 cranes, (many were made out of labels from her
medicine bottles), but she never ever gave up, despite her wish not
coming true. She still tried and carried on, right up until she died.
Sadako’s determination was an inspiration for
her friends and those who knew her. They
began to dream of a monument for her that
would be symbol of hope and the determination
to carry on no matter what…
They also wanted the memorial to stand
for all of the children who had lost their
lives as a result of the atomic bomb those who died instantly, and those like
Sadako who died later.
Young people from all over Japan
helped to collect money for the
project, and soon the friends of
Sadako had enough money for the
monument which was unveiled in
1958. The Statue shows Sadako
holding a golden crane. Every year
thousands of people fold and send
paper cranes to the monument in
recognition of the way Sadako never
gave up and in hope of peace.
The friends of Sadako put this inscription at the bottom
of the monument…
“ This is our cry, this is our
prayer, Peace in the world.”
A letter from one of Sadako’s friends
Sadako wouldn’t have died if there had been no war. I
wonder why people of the world can’t get along well.
Innocent children were killed by such a horrible thing one
after another. I wonder how adults feel about such things
just sitting by and watching them dying without saying
anything. I can’t be silent anymore. I’d like to appeal to
people of the world for banning atomic and hydrogen
bombs. Atomic bombs remind me of sadako because
Sadako was very vigorous, but she died.
So why cranes?
• In Japan the crane is known as ‘the bird of happiness’.
• A leader named Kakamura in the 11th century released
hundreds of cranes to give thanksgiving after a
successful battle. Attached to the leg was a prayer to
pray for those killed in battle.
• This is the first recording of the crane being associated
with peace and prayers for those lost in war.
• The crane is also a symbol of prosperity and good
health and is often given as a gift to those who are ill.