FOLD CRANES

Why Cranes: The story of Sadako Sasaki and the 1,000 cranes

The paper crane is a symbol of peace and hope. This idea was popularized by the familiar story of Sadako Sasaki. She was just a child when the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, but at the age of 11 she was diagnosed with the "atom bomb disease" or leukemia because of the direct exposure to the radiation.

With the encouragement from her friends and family, Sadako decided to fold 1000 paper cranes in the hope that she would be cured. She believed in the old Japanese legend that said; a person who folds 1000 paper cranes will have his/her wish granted; she was confident that each paper crane represented a wish and certainly a thousand wishes could not be ignored...

She used every piece of paper she could get her hands on; the medicine paper, newspapers, magazines, scraps, and other papers her family and friends brought her. She folded and folded hundreds of cranes as she watched her friends die in the hospital along side her.

Eventually, she realized that here wish had changed. She no longer wished for her own health but rather that this type of violence should never happen again. That there should be no more bombs or wars, her wish was for peace so that children like her and adults alike will never have to suffer and die.

She managed to fold 644 cranes before she could fold no more... She passed away on October 25, 1955.

Everyone was so moved by her story, her friend, classmates, and family folded the remaining 356 cranes to bury with her.

A few years later a monument in her honor was erected in Hiroshima Park as an example of her courage and dedication and her wish for peace. The monument has engraved the following:

This is our cry,
This is our prayer,
peace in the world.

Folders are strongly encouraged to cut up magazines and old wrapping paper to use as source material. We want to emphasize that the beauty of this gift is in the act, not the surface appearance of the paper. Instructions can be found on our web site.

How the cranes are folded and presented is less important than that they be created and delivered. It is easiest to send them flat, by first inserting them into a zip top bag, and removing the air, then placing them into an envelope to mail. If you have a lot, a box is best. If you have them strung on a cord, simply box them up as they are.

Our paper size standard has been 15cm or 6 inches square. You may send completed cranes however you wish. All contributions of loose birds will be assembled into strands, to be hung on the sculpture, or bundled to distribute to New Yorkers during the 2003 anniversary observances.

All birds should be sent to the following studio to be catalogued and stored until their presentation in NYC:

WTC Healing Project
1066 47th Avenue #13
Oakland, CA. 94601

After your contribution has been documented, your name will be posted on our website. In August 2003 we will stage a presentation rehearsal in the Bay Area. Participants whose cranes have been cataloged may volunteer to play a hands-on role in this presentation.

Please get your contribution in early. Origami teaches the vast importance of sequencing---you must do one thing before another thing can be achieved, and that tangible results do not happen over night. As this demonstration builds visually, it also builds spiritually. It is not easy, it is not quick, it is cumulative, it is community extending, and it happens over time.

1&4 Children in the Alameda County Juvenile Facility art class folding cranes.

2 Squinting participants from the U.K.

3 City of Oakland employees folding in front of City Hall on the 6 month anniversary of 9/11.