Peace Crane Project

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An activist in Wellington handing out "free peace cranes" and holding a sign on Hiroshima Day (6 August) in 2014 Hiroshima Day Activist 2014.JPG
An activist in Wellington handing out "free peace cranes" and holding a sign on Hiroshima Day (6 August) in 2014

The Peace Crane Project was founded in 2013 by Sue DiCicco, [1] in order to promote world peace and raise awareness of the International Day of Peace (21 September).

A "peace crane" is an origami crane used as peace symbol, by reference to the story of Sadako Sasaki (1943–1955), a Japanese victim of the long-term effects of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. Sasaki was one of the most widely known hibakusha (Japanese for "bomb-affected person"), said to have folded one thousand origami cranes before her death.

The Peace Crane Project participated in the 20th Annual Sadako Peace Day, hosted by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation in Montecito (2014). [2]

Participants in the Peace Crane Project are asked to fold an origami crane and then sign up on the website to exchange their crane with someone in a different city, state, country or continent. They are encouraged to take a photo of their crane after placing it in their community, and to upload the photo online. [3] In Bangalore, India, over sixty schools took part in the peace crane exchange in 2013. [4]

The Peace Crane Project announced a new initiative for 2017, [5] inviting students around the world to fold a crane and include it in a traveling exhibit of 1,000 cranes which will appear at a variety of venues over the next several years. Purpose Global[ who? ] in 2016 included the Peace Crane Project a "list of the 500 most influential global initiatives for peace". [6]

Ellen DeGeneres tweeted about The Peace Crane Project on Peace Day in 2019, encouraging her followers to participate. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peace symbols</span> Symbols to promote peace

A number of peace symbols have been used many ways in various cultures and contexts. The dove and olive branch was used symbolically by early Christians and then eventually became a secular peace symbol, popularized by a Dove lithograph by Pablo Picasso after World War II. In the 1950s the "peace sign", as it is known today, was designed by Gerald Holtom as the logo for the British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), a group at the forefront of the peace movement in the UK, and adopted by anti-war and counterculture activists in the US and elsewhere. The symbol is a superposition of the semaphore signals for the letters "N" and "D", taken to stand for "nuclear disarmament", while simultaneously acting as a reference to Goya's The Third of May 1808 (1814).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sadako Sasaki</span> Japanese hibakusha, student, and origami artist

Sadako Sasaki was a Japanese girl who became a victim of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States. She was two years of age when the bombs were dropped and was severely irradiated. She survived for another ten years, becoming one of the most widely known hibakusha—a Japanese term meaning "bomb-affected person". She is remembered through the story of the more than one thousand origami cranes she folded before her death. She died at the age of 12 on October 25, 1955, at the Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peace Park (Seattle)</span> Park in Seattle, Washington, United States

Peace Park is a park located in the University District of Seattle, Washington, at the corner of N.E. 40th Street and 9th Avenue N.E., at the northern end of the University Bridge. Its construction was conceived and led by Floyd Schmoe, winner of the 1988 Hiroshima Peace Prize, and dedicated on August 6, 1990. 45 years after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, it is home to a full-size bronze statue of Sadako Sasaki sculpted by Daryl Smith.

<i>Hibakusha</i> Atomic bombing in Japan survivors

Hibakusha is a word of Japanese origin generally designating the people affected by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.

<i>Trinity</i> (video game) 1986 video game

Trinity is an interactive fiction video game written by Brian Moriarty and published in 1986 by Infocom. It is widely regarded as one of the company's best works.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Day of Peace</span> Annual observance dedicated to world peace

The International Day of Peace, also officially known as World Peace Day, is a United Nations-sanctioned holiday observed annually on 21 September. It is dedicated to world peace, and specifically the absence of war and violence, such as might be occasioned by a temporary ceasefire in a combat zone for humanitarian aid access. The day was first established in 1981 and first observed in September 1982 and is kept by many nations, political groups, military groups, and people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eleanor Coerr</span> Canadian-American writer

Eleanor Coerr was a Canadian-born American writer of children's books, including Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes and many picture books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park</span> Memorial to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park is a memorial park in the center of Hiroshima, Japan. It is dedicated to the legacy of Hiroshima as the first city in the world to suffer a nuclear attack at the end of World War II, and to the memories of the bomb's direct and indirect victims. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park is visited by more than one million people each year. The park is there in memory of the victims of the nuclear attack on August 6, 1945, in which the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park was planned and designed by the Japanese Architect Kenzō Tange at Tange Lab.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of origami</span>

The history of origami followed after the invention of paper and was a result of paper's use in society. In the detailed Japanese classification, origami is divided into stylized ceremonial origami and recreational origami, and only recreational origami is generally recognized as origami. However, this page describes the history of both ceremonial and recreational origami.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum</span> Peace museum in Hiroshima, Japan

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum is a museum located in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, in central Hiroshima, Japan, dedicated to documenting the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">One thousand origami cranes</span> Origami

The crane is considered a mystical or holy creature in Japan and is said to live for a thousand years. That is why one thousand origami cranes are made, one for each year. In some stories, it is believed that the cranes must be completed within one year and they must all be made by the person who will make the wish at the end.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Children's Peace Monument</span>

The Children's Peace Monument is a monument for peace to commemorate Sadako Sasaki and the thousands of child victims of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. This monument is located in Hiroshima, Japan. Sadako Sasaki, a young girl, died of leukemia from radiation of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945.

<i>The Day of the Bomb</i> 1961 non-fiction book written by Karl Bruckner

The Day of the Bomb is a non-fiction book written by the Austrian author Karl Bruckner in 1961.

<i>Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes</i> 1977 childrens historical novel by Eleanor Coerr

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes is a children's historical novel written by Canadian-American author Eleanor Coerr and published in 1977. It is based on the story of Sadako Sasaki.

This is a list of cultural products made about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It includes literature, film, music and other art forms.

<i>Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes</i> (album) 1990 soundtrack album by George Winston, Liv Ullmann

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes is an album by pianist George Winston with narration by actress Liv Ullmann, released in 1995. Winston's guitar solos also appear apart from the narration, which follows the true story of Sadako Sasaki, a victim of Hiroshima bombing. Suffering from radiation-induced leukemia, Sadako spent her time in a hospital folding origami paper cranes hoping to make a thousand of them and thereby receiving a wish, one she would use to heal and live.

<i>Orizuru</i> Origami of a crane (bird)

The orizuru, origami crane or paper crane, is a design that is considered to be the most classic of all Japanese origami. In Japanese culture, it is believed that its wings carry souls up to paradise, and it is a representation of the Japanese red-crowned crane, referred to as the "Honourable Lord Crane" in Japanese culture. It is often used as a ceremonial wrapper or restaurant table decoration. A thousand orizuru strung together is called senbazuru (千羽鶴), meaning "thousand cranes", and it is said that if someone folds a thousand cranes, they are granted one wish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sue DiCicco</span> American sculptor, childrens book author and illustrator

Sue DiCicco is an American sculptor, children's book author and illustrator, and founder of Armed with the Arts and the Peace Crane Project.

Atsuko Betchaku was a Japanese pacifist and teacher known for her 140,000 Origami Cranes Project in Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Historic Wendover Airfield</span> Aviation museum in Wendover, Utah

The Historic Wendover Airfield is an aviation museum located at Wendover Airport in Wendover, Utah focused on the history of Wendover Air Force Base.

References

  1. "Sue DiCicco helps children make and share peace cranes". 2 May 2014 via Christian Science Monitor.
  2. "Sadako Peace Day". www.independent.com.
  3. Liza Frenette (2013-09-20). "Paper cranes migrate toward peace". blogs.nysut.org. Retrieved 2014-02-19.
  4. "Sharing art pieces online for peace". Deccanherald.com. 2013-09-15. Retrieved 2014-02-19.
  5. "Will You Represent Your Country?".
  6. "#purpose500 • Instagram photos and videos". www.instagram.com.
  7. "The Ellen Show • Twitter". www.twitter.com.