Sadako Sasaki(Hiroshima, 1943–1955) Sadako was approximately 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) from ground zero when the bomb exploded, but miraculously was not injured. She was a happy child who giggled mischievously and was a popular girl at school. She excelled in athletics, often beating the boys in relay races. A decade after the bomb, just before graduating elementary school, Sadako was diagnosed with leukemia and hospitalized. Believing that she would recover if she could fold one thousand paper cranes, she devoted herself to creating cranes until she died six months later. She was only twelve. Sadako’s classmates started a donation campaign in an effort to give Sadako’s life and death some meaning. With the cooperation of children all over Japan, they built a statue, the “Children’s Peace Monument,” in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. Now visitors from Japan and other countries dedicate paper cranes which they fold while praying for peace. Children’s Peace Monument. Photograph courtesy of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Sadako, after hospitalization, in front of her hospital. Photograph courtesy of Masahiro Sasaki. Paper cranes, folded as prayers for peace. Peace Memorial Park, Hiroshima, Japan. Photograph by Masao Taira/iStock. TheTrauma That day, we managed to get home through the fire. Our house had burned down; we could not find our four children. We only found several bones, which crumbled into powder in our hands. My wife fell into a state of shock. Three months later, our niece brought an Ichimatsu Doll which our daughter had given her, saying we should keep it in place of our daughter. My wife was filled with joy at receiving it. Since then, we have collected the Ichimatsu Dolls, one each year, to console the souls of our children. —Motae and Yoshio Kuramitsu Ichimatsu Dolls collected over the years by Mr. and Mrs. Kuramitsu. Photograph by Yoichi Tanuma. Mr. & Mrs. Kuramitsu, holding an Ichimatsu Doll. Photograph by Yoichi Tanuma.
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