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Sadako Sasaki was two years old when the atom bomb was dropped on her hometown of Hiroshima, Japan in 1945. Sadako’s home was about a mile from the epicenter, and her family survived. When she was an eleven-year-old school athlete, she began to experience weakness, lumps on her neck, and spots on her legs. Sadako was diagnosed with leukemia, with a life expectancy of a year. She spent the next eight months in a hospital.
During that time, she heard about the Japanese legend that says if you fold a thousand paper cranes, your wish will come true. Sadako began folding cranes whenever she could get paper or other materials. Some versions of Sadako’s story say she failed in her attempt, and that her friends completed the thousand cranes, but most historical sources say she completed her mission, and made 1300 cranes. Sadako died on October 25, 1955.
But Sadako lives on, after the jump.
Sadako’s friends and classmates published a book containing her letters in order to raise funds for a memorial to Sadako and other children who died in the wake of the atomic bomb. Donations came in from 3,100 schools in Japan and from nine other countries. The Children’s Peace Monument, featuring a statue of Sadako holding a crane, was offically unveiled on May 5, 1958 in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.
There are display cases surrounding the monument in Hiroshima containing the many paper cranes (around ten million a year) still offered by people all over the world. The Children’s Peace Monument accepts cranes by mail. Here are intructions for making an origami crane.
At least two children’s books were written about Sadako,
Sadako Will Leben (Sadako Wants To Live) by Austrain author Karl Bruckner in 1961, and Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by American author Eleanor Coerr in 1977 (also available on video). Rasul Gamzatov wrote his epic poem Zhuravli (The Cranes) in honor of Sadako. It was later adapted into a popular Russian song. The jazz-fusion band Hiroshima have a song called Thousand Cranes inspired by the story. 1000 Cranes Business Consulting named their company after the Sadako story.
There is also a statue of Sadako in the Seattle Peace Park. The Peace Park was built by Dr. Floyd Schmoe with money he received as a recipient of the Hiroshima Peace Prize in 1988.
In 1989, elementary students at Arroyo del Oso School in Albuquerque designed and created the The Children’s Peace Statue. The statue is on display at the Ghost Ranch in Santa Fe.
The Sadako Peace Garden in Santa Barbara, California was dedicated in 1995. The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation holds a Sadako Peace Day event every year in August.
Another Sadako-inspired organization, The World Peace Project for Children in Washington state was founded in 1997 to promote communication between children of different cultures. Their projects include a children’s peace choir and a peace club.
Sadako’s Cranes
There are more tributes to Sadako on YouTube, if you can handle the emotions.
Comments (11)
Comment
I read the Spanish version of “Sadako will leben” in school, not as a part of the curriculum, but because our headmaster insisted everyone at the school had to read it. 20 years after that, I still remember how what a strong impression it made on me. I’ll always be thankful for it.
posted by Mar on 8-23-2007 at 7:34 am
That was a beautiful story and very interesting as well. Thanks!! :O)
posted by hullmomma on 8-23-2007 at 7:49 am
Thanks for another beautiful story.
posted by Allison on 8-23-2007 at 7:54 am
I have visited the Peace Park in Hiroshima twice and it is still a haunting place. Just seeing the display cases is enough to bring home the effect of the Atomic bombs. In the museum there is a display showing brass plate (I think) replicas of the telegrams that each successive Hiroshima mayor sends to a country each time said country detonates an atomic bomb. There are more plates than you can count.
All politics aside, I think every leader of a country should visit the Peace Park.
posted by Dusty on 8-23-2007 at 8:22 am
paper cranes rule…people are good at heart…
posted by donner on 8-23-2007 at 12:31 pm
Great story… thanks!
As an origami enthusiast I’ve heard the Sadako story before. It’s nice how the 1000 cranes has turned into a symbol of peace… it has long been a symbol of luck. Folding 1000 cranes for weddings to ensure luck and prosperity is still a popular practice in Japan.
I think I’ll fold 1000 cranes just to do it. Here’s a kit in case anyone else wants to try and doesn’t have access to a craft store:
www.paperjade.com/product_info.php?cPath=47&products_id=447
posted by Jason! on 8-23-2007 at 4:21 pm
I love this story! In elementary school our teacher told us about it and then we had a class project and made some cranes which she sent to be added with the rest.
posted by Julia Rae on 8-23-2007 at 7:46 pm
I remember reading that story in middle school and being inspired by Sadako’s attitude towards it all. It’s such a haunting story.
I tried making 1,ooo cranes myself but only got up to 480-something.
posted by heather on 8-23-2007 at 11:38 pm
I read Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes in fifth grade. We got it in our heads that we as a class were going to make a thousand ourselves. I don’t think we got there; the attention spans of ten-year-olds aren’t really conducive to that kind of undertaking. Nonetheless, it is a beautiful story and made an indelible impression on me.
posted by Alyssa on 8-24-2007 at 6:15 pm
Thanks for mentioned 1000 Cranes Business Consulting on your website! The legend has been around since the 1700s, but it took Sadako to bring the awareness of it to the world.
What a wonderful gift she gave us in such a short lifetime.
Believe. Plan. Fly.
1000 Cranes® Business Consulting
www.1000cranes.com
posted by Naomi Takeuchi on 8-30-2007 at 12:48 am
we really liked this story and it was beutifull thanx
posted by patrick on 11-5-2007 at 10:38 am