The paper crane has become an international symbol of peace, but it has always been a sacred bird in Japan. Japanese people think it can live a thousand years and can grant wishes. So the common belief in Japanese culture is if a person folds a thousand cranes, his wish for a long life could be granted.

Sadako Sasaki was a twelve-year-old Japanese girl who wanted to fold a thousand paper cranes in hope that her wish to live would be granted. Sadako suffered from leukemia which was a result of the atomic bomb that had fallen over Hiroshima. She was only able to fold 644 cranes before she died. Her friends and classmates finished folding the cranes for her. They also collected twenty thousand dollars to build a monument for Sadako and other children who had suffered from the same disease. Sadako's story is told in the book, Sadako and the Thousand Cranes, by Eleanor Coerr.

Every year on August 6, Peace Day, children from all over the world send their 1000 cranes to Hiroshima to help decorate Sadako's monument. Our school, Vidor Middle School, is making 1000 cranes to send to Sadako's monument. The Thousand Crane Club encourages everyone to participate in keeping the desire for world peace alive.

I will write 'peace' on your wings and
you will fly all over the world.
...Sadako Sasaki

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