The Sadako Peace Park in Seattle, Washington was built by Dr. Floyd Schmoe when he was 93 years old. After he won the Nobel Peace Prize of $5,000.00 in 1988 he used it to clear a small lot near the University of Washington. From what was a pile of wrecked cars, garbage, and brush he built with volunteers a beautiful peace park. The statue there is a life size bronze of Sadako Sasaki, the young Japanese girl who survived the Hiroshima bombing, but later died of a radiation sickness at the age of twelve.

Since the park was dedicated on August 6, 1990, the 45th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, hundreds of children have been bringing paper cranes to the statue on a regular basis to show the hope for peace in the world. On some days you can see thousands of paper cranes on Sadako.

There is also another peace park in Hiroshima, Japan. One of the sites there is The Children's Monument. At the top is a statue of Sadako Sasaki. It was built in 1958 with donations from Japanese school children. At it's base a plaque reads:

This is our cry.
This is our prayer.
Peace in the world.

Around the Children's Monument thousands of paper cranes are scattered about.

Another site in the park is the A-bomb Dome (Genbaku-domu-mae). It is one to the few ruined buildings to remain after the bombing. If is a famous symbol of the power of the atomic bomb which burned and ruined a city of 350,000 people, with about 140,000 dying from injuries or radiation within a few months of the bombing in August, 1945.

The Memorial Cenotaph contains a list of over 180,000 people who died due to the Atomic bomb. There is an arch over a stone coffin which is a replica of an ancient haniwa house gaurding the souls of those who died. On the stone are inscribed the words: "Let all souls here rest in peace, for we shall not repeat the evil."

In the park is the Flame of Peace. It's shape forms hands held so their palms are upward. A flame will burn until all nuclear weapons are taken from the earth.

Next is the monument of unidentified victims. It is modeled after an ancient burial mound. It contains ashes of about 70,000 unidentified Atomic bomb victims.

Last is the Peace Bell. People ring it as part of their wish for peace. The dome's shape of the belfry symbolizes the universe. The bell weights more than a ton. Around it is a map of the world with no national boundaries shown to symbolize "one world".

To learn more about the Sadako Peace Parks visit these sites:
http://www.sadako.org/
http://www.rosella.apana.org.au/~mlb/cranes/peaceprk.htm