Origami: The Art of Paper Folding

The art of paper folding began in China, after the development of paper. It is believed that this art came to Japan in the sixth century when Buddhist monks brought paper into Japan. The word origami itself is made of two smaller words meaning "fold" and "paper." Among the early uses of origami was the giving of gifts by samurai with Noshi (a ceremonial origami) attached, and the use of origami butterflies as a representation of Shinto brides and grooms. Shinto is the indigenous religion of Japan.

Japanese legend says if you fold a thousand cranes, a wish is yours. Cranes are said to live for a thousand years, and are one of Japan's respected, powerful, mystical creatures. So it is that the folding of a thousand paper cranes came to symbolize a wish for longevity, health, and good fortune.

Senbazuru is a grouping of a thousand origami cranes usually tied on strings in sets of 40 per string. These became a traditional gift to a newly married couple and to babies as a wish for luck and longevity, or from a young girl to a boy she admired.

But the Thousand Paper Cranes caught our attention and became a symbol for peace in the years after the bombs were dropped on Japan. A young Japanese girl, Sadako Sasaki, in the hospital and suffering from leukemia due to the radiation from the bombing of Hiroshima, was given a golden origami crane by her best friend, who told her the legend. Inspired, she began to create her own. She would use anything she could for paper, asking the other patients for the used wrapping paper from their gifts and even making use of medicine wrappers.

The book Sadako and the Paper Cranes says she did not live long enough complete her 1000 cranes; friends did this for her and buried them with her. A Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum exhibit said she did finish her 1000 cranes, and continued to fold more.

It is said that her original intention was to wish for her own life, but as she saw the children around her dying, knew she would, too, and made her wish for peace and an end to suffering.

In one version of her tale, she wrote a haiku that translates:

I shall write peace upon your wings, and you shall fly around the world so that children will no longer have to die this way.

There is a memorial for her in Hiroshima Peace Park with a statue of her with a crane flying from her hand, where people leave senbaruzu in her honor and memory.

Photograph of the statue of Sadako Sasaki taken by Taisyo and released under the Gnu Free Documentation License. The origami cranes were released into the public domain by their photographer.