Author | Eleanor Coerr |
---|---|
Illustrator | Ronald Himler |
Language | English |
Series | None |
Subject | A child with leukemia from radiation caused by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima |
Genre | Children's non-fiction literature |
Publisher | G. P. Putnam's Sons |
Publication date | 1977 |
Publication place | Canada |
Media type | |
Pages | 81 |
ISBN | 9780399205200 |
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 true story of Sadako Sasaki, a victim of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, in World War II, who set out to create a thousand origami cranes when dying of leukemia from radiation caused by the bomb.
The book has been translated into many languages and published in many places, to be used for peace education programs in primary schools.
After being diagnosed with leukemia from radiation caused by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Sadako's friend told her to fold origami paper cranes ( orizuru ) in hope of making a thousand of them. She was inspired to do so by the Japanese legend that one who created a thousand origami cranes would be granted a wish. Her wish was simply to live through her disease so she could fulfill her dream of being on the running team. In this retelling of her story, she managed to fold only 644 cranes before she became too weak to fold any more, and died in her sleep on the morning of October 25, 1955, knowing her family will always be there. Her friends and family helped finish her dream by folding the rest of the cranes, which were buried with Sadako. [1]
The claim in Coerr's book that Sadako "died before completing the 1000 cranes, and her two friends completed the task, placing the finished cranes in her casket" is disputed by her surviving family members. According to her family, and especially her older brother Masahiro Sasaki, who speaks on his sister's life at events, Sadako not only exceeded 644 cranes, she exceeded her goal of 1,000 and died having folded approximately 1,450 paper cranes. In his book, The Complete Story of Sadako Sasaki (2018) co-written with Sue DiCicco, founder of the Peace Crane Project, Masahiro says Sadako exceeded her goal. [2]
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, a short film directed by George Levenson, co-written by Coerr and Levenson and starring Liv Ullmann as narrator, was released in 1991. [3] The soundtrack, an album of the same name with narration by Ullman and music by George Winston, was released in 1995. [4]
In November 2015, Japanese American filmmaker Miyuki Sohara made Orizuru 2015 ( orizuru being the Japanese word for paper cranes), an educational short film for children. This film was selected by Hiroshima International Film Festival in 2015 and afterwards was released in Los Angeles on May 27, 2016, at its US premiere screening. [5] This film is a friendship story and made with Los Angeles schoolchildren, Hollywood actors, and crews. Sadako's nephew appears in film and sings a song about Sadako's life, "Inori". At the same time, Sohara coordinated Sadako's two crane donations to the Museum of Tolerance and the Japanese American National Museum. [6] [7]
In 2019 Evolving Pictures Entertainment started producing a film tentatively entitled Sadako and the Magic of Paper Cranes, [8] written by British filmmaker Malcolm Clarke. The story chronicled a group of fifth grade students from Albuquerque, New Mexico, inspired by their teacher, who dream of building a monument to honor the legend and spirit of Sadako. [9] [10]
Also in 2019, a film titled One Thousand Paper Cranes, directed by Richard Raymond, was announced to begin production, with Evan Rachel Wood playing Eleanor Coerr, telling the story of Coerr and Sadako and "how their lives are intricately connected." [11]
The Bell Shakespeare theatre company in Sydney, Australia, mounted a production of Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes during its 1997 season, and again in 2000. [12] They performed it on weekdays, for primary schools. [13]
Sasaki has become a leading symbol of peace that is taught in Japanese schools on the anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing. In dedication to her, people all over the world celebrate August 6 as the annual Peace Day. [14]
The Hiroshima Peace Memorial, originally the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, and now commonly called the Genbaku Dome, Atomic Bomb Dome or A-Bomb Dome, is part of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Japan and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.
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.
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.
Hibakusha is a word of Japanese origin generally designating the people affected by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States at the end of World War II.
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.
Sadako is a Japanese name, commonly used for women. The same name can be written with a variety of kanji, and the meanings of the name differ accordingly:
Eleanor Coerr was a Canadian-born American writer of children's books, including Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes and many picture books.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Day of the Bomb is a non-fiction book written by the Austrian author Karl Bruckner in 1961.
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.
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes is an album by musician George Winston with narration by actress Liv Ullmann, released in 1995. It comprises the soundtrack of the 1991 film of the same name, based on the 1977 book of the same name.
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.
The Peace Crane Project was founded in 2013 by Sue DiCicco, in order to promote world peace and raise awareness of the International Day of Peace.
Kōji Husimi was a Japanese theoretical physicist who served as the president of the Science Council of Japan. Husimi trees in graph theory, the Husimi Q representation in quantum mechanics, and Husimi's theorem in the mathematics of paper folding are named after him.
Atsuko Betchaku was a Japanese pacifist and teacher known for her 140,000 Origami Cranes Project in Scotland.
Masamoto Nasu was a Japanese children's writer.
Richard Raymond is a British film director. He is known for films such as Heartless, Souls of Totality, A Million Eyes and Desert Dancer.