The peace crane is a Japanese symbol of peace. When the A-bomb landed on Hiroshima in 1945, a little girl named Sadako Sasaki was two years old. Ten years later she would be hospitalized with leukaemia caused by the bomb’s radiation. She spent her final days of life folding origami cranes out of any paper she could find. There is an old Japanese saying that if you fold 1,000 cranes, you will have one wish granted. Sadako made 644 cranes before growing too ill to continue. Her spirit, perseverance and dream of world peace have inspired people all over the world. There are parks dedicated to peace with statues of Sadako Sasaki in both Hiroshima, Japan and Seattle, Washington.
We’ve included these instructions for folding an origami peace crane so that you can be a part of a worldwide tribute to peace that began with just one young girl.
