(August 2, '97)
On August 1, folded paper cranes were presented by elementary school students from San Francisco at the Children's Peace Monument in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Naka-Ward. The students read a story about Sadako Sasaki for whom the monument was erected. Sadako Sasaki was a girl who died of Leukemia as a result of the A-bomb.
Two sisters who are studying at the school in San Francisco as a result of their father's transfer, Eiko Ohwaki (4th grader, age 10) and Seiko Ohwaki (age 8) who came back to Japan for the summer, presented the folded paper cranes on behalf of their classmates.
"The whole class folded the paper cranes most sincerely", said Eiko. In her history class, the classmates read the childrens book, "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes", written by Eleanor Coerr. Sadako's story is faithful to the memorial collection of essays and the stories told by her family.
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| August 1, at the Children's Peace Monument |
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28 classmates decided to send a message of desire that world peace be realized, at the Children's Peace Monument, by offering folded paper cranes there. They folded paper cranes at school and at home, which took them three months to complete.
History of the Children's Peace Monument
Sadako is a Hiroshima atomic bomb victim who died of Leukemia at the age of twelve, in 1955 ten years after the end of the World War II. Until the last minute she was hoping for recovery because of a belief, which says that "If you wish upon one thousand paper cranes for a sick person, the gods will grant the wish and make the sick person healthy again." Sadako folded paper cranes to keep up her courage and soon everyone joined her.
The death of Sadako gave her classmates a great shock. They realized all the more keenly the horror of the A-bomb. Because of this her classmates decided to erect a monument to comfort Sadako's soul and to express their desire for peace.
Students from over 3,100 schools in Japan as well as schools in England and nine other countries contributed funds for the monument. It was unveiled on Children's Day, May 5, 1958. Through the year, many thousands of folded paper cranes are offered there from all over the world.
