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"If you fold one thousand origami paper cranes [折り鶴], your greatest wish will come true."

Young Sadako Sasaki [佐々木禎子], born 1943-01-07, lived in Hiroshima. At the age of two, she was exposed to the radiation of the world's first atomic bomb attack, on 1945-08-06. Her home, where she was at the time, was in Zone 2, about 1 mile from the hypocenter (bomb explosion point) over the Gembaku Dome [原爆ドーム] , a community center in the city.

Like most citizens in Hiroshima, Sadako's family was unaware as to what kind of attack had occurred (beyond the destruction caused by the blast [pressure wave] and fireball).

Slowly, over the next 10 years, little Sadako would suffer a slow onset of radiation sickness. Ultimately, she was hospitalized for the first of many times.

During one of these hospitalizations, a child (who was also sick) told her of the legend:

"If you fold one thousand origami paper cranes, your greatest wish will come true."

… and she began folding. Her One Wish: survive.

Stories conflict as far as how many she completed. Some reports say that she only made 644, others say 664; these are considered apocryphal. According to her brother Masahiro Sasaki (himself also a bomb survivor, or Hibakusha [被爆者]), she succeeded at folding her Thousand Cranes (Sembazuru [千羽鶴]). He continues to tell Sadako's story to this day. He has stated that she continued past the thousand mark, folding cranes every day, until she was too tired to continue. She would remain hospitalized for 14 months, completing over 1,400 cranes.

Ultimately, she died on 1955-10-25, at age 12, of radiation-induced acute malignant lymph gland leukemia. Her last words, after being fed a small mean of Chazuke [茶漬け] ( tea on rice), are believed to be, "It's Tasty [美味しいです]."

Her story spread after her death. While the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park [平和記念公園: Heiwa Ki'nen Koo'en] was built as a memorial to the survivors of the atomic bomb attack, and even the Japanese Imperial Army-conscripted Chinese and Korean nationals had a memorial built for them, the children of Hiroshima remained unrepresented.

This would change as, on 1958-05-05 (Children's Day) [子供の日], the Children's Memorial Monument would finally be unveiled. Upon the spire are a boy and a girl, climbing toward the top. At the top of the spire is Sadako, holding a large wire frame of one of a [origami] crane toward the sky. At the base of the spire is a plaque that says (hover to see transliterations):

Japanese (日本語)
これはぼくらの叫びです これは私たちの祈りです 世界に平和をきずくための
Chinese (中文)
这是我们的呐喊 这是我们的祈祷 为了在世界上建立和平
Korean (한국어)
이것은 우리들의 외침입니다 이것은 우리들의 기도입니다 세계에 평화를 구축하기 위한
English
This Is Our Cry This Is Our Prayer To Have Peace in Our World
[Images: Stone • Dedication Plaque]

People from around the world send origami cranes to the City of Hiroshima every year. The city accepts them but requests that they be in strings of 1,000. They are kept protected in boxes until they are needed to replace others throughout the memorial park, those that are damaged by the elements. Also, there is a "guestbook" of sorts, where you can register your donation(s). Here is a link with information on how & where to send crane donations. To learn how to fold origami cranes [折り紙鶴], check this link: (Origami Way), or watch this video: How to Fold Paper Cranes.

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The Gembaku Dome is constantly restored to "destroyed condition" via city funds and private grants. The government of the City of Hiroshima keeps the building in this state to be a constant visual reminder of what happened that fateful day, so we never forget ....

The image, at the left, is of Sadako at age 12, in kimono, at her middle school graduation ceremony. She was given special permission to leave the hospital to attend the ceremony, despite being very ill.

In honor of her courageous fight to survive, the band Hiroshima has four songs dedicated to her, or about her, or the quest for peace in general:

1. "One Wish" (on Another Place (1985))
2. "Thousand Cranes" (on East (1989))
3. "Another Wish" (on The Bridge (2003))
4. "With Heart" (on June Kuramoto's solo project: The Way of Tea (2005))

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For more information about Sadako's story, click here.

• Thanks to Calvin W. Lew & Huan Zheng for translation assistance (Chinese text)
• Picture of Sadako Sasaki: Wikipedia
• "Three Days Later" image is in the public domain (US Historical Archives)
• All other pictures were taken by me personally during 2005 (first Japan trip)
• A YouTube video of the song "Thousand Cranes" can be found here (it is not officially authorized by the band; this link may be removed at any time). There are many "live" versions online as well from their various concerts

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