Cranes for Peace

Cranes for Peace began as a project to collect paper cranes to be sent to Hiroshima for the 50th anniversary of the bombing. Ever since the story of Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who was 2 at the time of the bombing and 10 years later died of leukemia, became widely known, people from around the world have sent origami cranes to the Children of the A-Bomb statue in the Hiroshima Peace Park as a symbol and wish for peace. Sadako attempted to fold 1000 cranes believing she would get well by doing so. It is Japanese legend that folding 1000 cranes (senbazuru) so pleases the gods that the folder is granted a wish. Sadako wished to get well. Her story, as presented in several books, has become an inspiration for school children world-wide to fold cranes in a wish for peace.

If you are interested, you can email us at and we will send you a computer CD with hundreds of pictures of cranes that we have taken at the statue over the years. If you can then identify your picture(s), we will print them out and forward them to you. You may also request a CD by contacting us via US Mail (see below).

You can visit the World Peace Project for Children site for books and other media about Sadako.

Cranes for Peace Ongoing Project

We have decided to stop collecting cranes. We have been doing this for nearly 9 years and recently the statue was vandalized. We want to thank all of you who have contributed cranes. I will attempt to find addresses for other locations that you may send your cranes.

When we started this project, the Internet was really in its infancy and really effective search mechanisms didn't exist. This is no longer the case and we feel confident that searches on Sadako, Cranes, etc. will get you what you are looking for.

I lost some of the digital pictures from the last few years when one directory on my PC ate itself. There isn't a way for us to make rhyme or reason of the order of the pictures that remain. Greg will be putting together the CD as best he can. Please feel free to request the CD.

Education links and resources

Sharon O'Connell's Sadako Resource List.

A teacher's guide from Canada for Sadako and the 1000 Paper Cranes.

[Blue Web'n Learning Application] Blue Web'n learning applications.

Informed Democracy has information about their video and other Sadako information and resources.

An The Washington State University Bilingual and ESL Resources Page has a project using Sadako and the 1000 Paper Cranes under Resources for Teachers and Learners, select Thematic Lessons, then Cranes (Japan). There are other projects about Japan and WWII also.

Crane folding instructions from the Hiroshima International School.

Find out more about by going to the most famous origami page, Joseph Wu's Origami Page. This Japanese site has some interesting facts about origami too.

Other Crane Projects

Visit the Sadako Peace Club Home Page put together by Michiko Pumpian. She took our cranes to Hiroshima in 1995 and is an award-winning children's songwriter.
Please visit 1000 Cranes Peace Network for lots of information and links.

Previous Projects (Not ongoing)

Please visit Sharon O'Connell's 1996 Sadako/Paper Crane page. You'll find information for using Sadako and the 1000 Paper Cranes (by Eleanor Coerr) as a teaching tool and projects for students. Also ways to connect your students to Japan. The final report of the 1996 project is available here with a few pictures. Sharon has also been selected as a semi-finalist for the NII awards. You can find out about Sharon's project from 1995 here.
The Hiroshima International School's 1000 Crane Club.
Other past projects and peace links

Assorted and Sundry pages with links to Cranes for Peace

Disclaimer: Once you leave the Cranes for Peace page, we can't guarantee the content. We have striven to not have direct links to any possibly objectionable material. You're on your own so please surf wisely.

World Peace Day is November 17.

The Rail - The Exploration

These good folks also have links to this page.

Please note: Most of the Japanese sites on these pages have the option of being seen using Shodouka. This allows you to see the characters without a Japanese-capable browser. Click on the to see the Japanese. You will also see the Shodouka header and footer on each page. Any links you follow from the Japanese pages will also be shown using Shodouka.

About Us:
Sue Parker lives in Seattle, Washington. Originally from Portland, Oregon and a graduate of Harvey Mudd College, she has folded more than 10,000 cranes in her life.

Greg Stripes lives in Seattle, Washington. Born in Independence, Iowa, but raised in Spokane, Washington, he has folded considerably less than Sue.

We welcome questions and comments. Please contact us via email.

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