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Sadako's Cranes
In 1955 a thirteen-year-old Japanese
girl died of "the atom bomb disease" - radiation-induced leukemia. She was one of many children to suffer the after-effects
of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. During her illness, Sadako buoyed her spirits by folding paper cranes. In Japan,
the old myths say that cranes live for a thousand years, and that the person who folds a thousand cranes will have her wish
granted. With each paper crane, Sadako wished that she would recover from the fatal disease. She folded 644 cranes before
she died. In honor of her memory, Sadako's classmates folded 356 more cranes so that she could be buried with a thousand
cranes. Friends collected money from children all over Japan to erect a monument to Sadako in Hiroshima's Peace Park. The
inscription reads:
This is our cry,
This is our prayer,
Peace in the world.
Each year people place paper
cranes at the base of the statue to recall the tragedy of war and to celebrate humanity's undying hope for peace. By folding
paper cranes, we show our willingness to labor for a child's desire to live, our faith in the future, and our commitment to
a world without war.
By Eleanor Coerr
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