1,000 Cranes for Hiroshima>>
JAFAX is collecting 1,000 origami cranes (orizuru) to donate to the Hiroshima Children's Peace Monument. Help us reach our goal by folding origami cranes during JAFAX! Never folded an origami crane before? No problem! Join our 1,000 Cranes for Hiroshima panel in Panel Room 1 on Friday at 1:30 PM. We also offer more casual Late-Night Origami sessions in the Cosplay/Panel Ops room on Friday at 9 PM and Saturday at 9:30 PM. Can't make one of the panels? Stop by Cosplay/Panel Ops at any time (except Saturday from 3:30 PM to 7 PM, sorry!) to fold a crane on your own. We'll provide the origami paper and a laminated instructions sheet. When you're done, add your cranes to the collection basket. You can also fold cranes at home and bring them to JAFAX!
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Origami is one of Japan's most recognized and treasured cultural activities. A popular belief exists that if you fold 1,000 cranes, you can make a wish and it will come true. This was the case with Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who lived in Hiroshima during World War 2. She was 2 years old when the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima; Sadako's family fled their home, which was less than two miles from Ground Zero. Sadako survived but, 10 years later, she developed leukemia as a result to the exposure to the bomb's radiation. She spent close to a year in the Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital, where she learned about the 1,000 cranes belief. Despite folding 1,000 cranes, her wish to return to full health was not granted. Sadako then began folding another 1,000 cranes, her wish this time being an end to nuclear war. Sadly, Sadako died on October 25, 1955, with 300 cranes folded towards her new goal.
Sadako's classmates were griefstricken at the loss of their friend and, in her honor, decided to continue folding origami cranes. Word quickly spread and, soon, students from more than 3,000 schools and from nine countries had donated both origami cranes and money to build a monument in her memory. That monument, the Hiroshima Children's Peace Monument, can be found near the center of the Hiroshima Peace Park, close to Ground Zero. The monument features a young girl holding a large origami crane overhead. The girl stands on top of a cenotaph, commemorating the more than 23,000 children and adolescents who died as a result of the bombing of Hiroshima. At the base of the monument, a plaque reads "This is our cry, This is our prayer, Peace in the World." The monument is surrounded by glass cases, each containing thousands of paper cranes donated by people from around the world.
JAFAX hopes to add 1,000 cranes to the Hiroshima Children's Peace Monument. Come help us reach a goal and fold some origami cranes!