- Introduction
- About this Site
- Germany's History
- Hitler Comes to Power
- The Holocaust
- Nazi Death Camps
- Anne Frank
- Anne's Diary
- Hiroshima
- Sadako's 1000 Cranes
- Sadako Lives On!
- Singapore
- Lim Bo Seng
- Mrs Kathigasu
- Comfort Women
- Comfort Women: 01
- Comfort Women: 02
- Aftermath
- Epilogue
- Sign Guestbook
- View Guestbook
In Loving Memory of Sadako
Every year thousands of school children visit Hiroshima's Peace Park to place paper cranes at the base of Sadako's monument. Individual cranes are lovingly folded and then strung together with other cranes, forming long, colorful chains.
A Monument to Sadako Sasaki
After Sadako's death her classmates finished folding the rest of the thousand paper cranes for Sadako because they wanted to honor her memory and share in her wish for peace. They also told her story to the people of Japan by publishing the letters she had written to them from her hospital bed. People were so inspired by Sadako's story that in 1958, a monument was built in Hiroshima's Peace Park to honor her and all the children who died because of the bombs. The monument is a statue of Sadako holding a crane in her outstretched hands.
Praying for Peace
Thousands of children fold brightly colored paper cranes and place them under Sadak's monument ever year. Beneath her statue lie, not just 644, not just a thousand, but millions of paper cranes. Each one has been carefully folded by young hands hoping for peace. Each one represents one person's private prayer for a peaceful world. The brightly colored origami crane has become a smbol of peace, not only for the children of Japan, but also for people around the world.
The Atomic Bomb Dome (Industry Promotion Center) was the only building left standing at the place where the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. The Japanese have preserved it as a reminder of the horrors of atomic warfare.