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| Sadako Sasaki |
Sadako's Life & Death
The Crane Project was inspired by the story of a young Japanese girl, Sadako Sasaki.
Sadako was two years old and living in Hiroshima when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on her city on August
6, 1945. Nine years later, Sadako was diagnosed with leukemia, at age 11, "the atom bomb disease."
While Sadako lay in her hospital bed, her best friend Chizuko Hamamoto,
reminded her of the old Japanese legend which said that anyone who folds a thousand paper cranes would
be blessed with peace. Hamamoto then folded a gold-colored piece of paper into a beautiful golden crane. She
handed the crane to Sadako and said, "Here's your first one."
Sadako set out to fold 1000 paper cranes, but was only
able to complete 644 before her death on October 25, 1955, at the age of twelve. Her classmates completed
the 1,000 she had set out to fold, and buried all of the cranes with her.
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| Thousands of paper cranes folded for peace lie beneath the Sadako Sasaki Memorial. |
Sadako's Memorial
After Sadako Sasaki's death, her classmates started
a campaign to construct the Children's Peace Monument in Hiroshima. As a fundraiser, they published a collection
of letters in honor of Sadako and all of the other children who died as a result of the atomic bomb.
Sadako has become a leading symbol of the impact of nuclear war.
In 1958, a statue of Sadako holding a golden crane was unveiled in the Hiroshima Memorial Peace Park. Her
classmates and friends made a wish which is inscribed at the bottom of the statue and reads:
"This is our cry, This is our prayer, Peace in the world".
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| People from around the world continue to send paper cranes to Hiroshima everyday. |
Sadako's Legacy
To this day, caring people from all over the world send paper cranes for peace to the Hiroshima Memorial
Peace Park. Thousands of cranes rest beneath Sadako's memorial, a reminder of our human obligation to never again allow
such a tragedy, and a reminder of the legacy a little girl.
Join The Crane Project in making our contribution to the ongoing story of Sadako.
Every paper crane we fold for peace will first travel across the state of Colorado, gathering messages of peace. The
cranes will then make their way to Hiroshima, to send the message to the world that we call for peace, and an end to nuclear
warfare and nuclear energy.
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