Sadako, sending love and peace to you! 💞

Five Facts

• There is a children peace monument in Hiroshima, Japan
• It was initiated by children themselves
• That is the only one of its kind in the world
  
• There is a girl statue in the monument with raised hands and a crane
  
• Paper cranes are sent from across the world till date

                   Source: Google Images, peace-tourism.com

Over to the history behind

Who and What is Sadako Sasaki?

Sadako Sasaki is the second child among four living with her parents in Japan.

She is always active, very loving and energetic yet sensitive.

She is a born runner and her ambition at the age of eleven was to join the high school team and win prizes.

She strongly believes in good omen and lucky charms.

Sadako Sasaki and Hiroshima Attack

She was just two years old when the horrifying attack happened. Six close family members lost their lives in the attack. To her, even the commemoration of peace day (August 6) is a carnival where she could have fun with other children and eat candies. She consciously avoids having a direct contact with any victim of the attack for their 'ugly faces' and even avoids looking at their photographs.

The day she wins race for her team (a selection to the high school team) is the first time she feels a kind of dizziness. This later leads to a collapse on the field while running and proceeding tests confirms Leukemia due to the Hiroshima attack. She gets admitted to the hospital, stays alone in the night, worries, cries and loses hope.

Sadako Sasaki and Paper Cranes

Her close friend, Chizuko, visits her in the hospital and gives her hope in the form of a traditional story of Crane, popular in Japan. As cranes are believed to live for thousand years, one who makes thousand paper cranes would live longer and healthier is a common belief. This gives Sadako the hope and she starts making paper cranes. And also reads, writes letters to her loved ones from the hospital. Everyone (her parents, siblings, friends, nurses) gives her papers to make cranes & write letters during every visit. She even makes one big crane for Kenji, an unborn at the time of attack (a nine year old boy in the next room suffering from Leukemia with no parents and only guardian), to give him hope. But he soon dies and it shatters her more.

Still, she does not give up making more cranes. It goes from tens to hundreds. Those cranes are hung in the room by her elder brother. As the number of cranes increases, she seems to get better. But the graph fluctuates. When she gets better (number of cranes was close to 600 now), her doctor permits to visit her house and stay for a week for O Bon celebration (where Japanese families set their houses ready so as to welcome spirits of their dead loved ones). Sadako is happy being at home after a long time but her health is deteriorating. After a week, she again moves to the hospital, cries all alone, thinks and dreams about death. Now her fear is no more the disease but the death.

How painful it is for parents & family to see their child visibly losing health and slowly going away from them. And for the innocent kid to think of death all the time 😢

During her last days, she is gifted a silk kimono (traditional Japanese wear, quite expensive for the family to afford) made by her mother and kokeshi doll (traditional Japanese doll with no arms and legs) brought by her friends. Her 644th crane is the last one she makes. She couldn't make anymore as her hands lost stability and the doctor says not to worry and try making one next day and TOMORROW NEVER CAME FOR HER.

Sadako Sazaki and the monument

The remaining 356 cranes to bring it to 1000 were made by Sadako's friends to bury along with her. Those lovely friends made a book of letters sent by her from hospital and named it Kokeshi and passed it on to many to know her life. They wished for a monument in her memory and began to raise funds. Thus born the Children Peace Monument in 1958 with the message this is our cry, our prayer, Peace in the world. Children and adults are sending cranes to the place till date.

P.S.: Undoubtedly, children are the worst affected in any war without any understanding of what is happening around. Unless and until every single action of ours keeps children in mind, no change would ever take place on earth. A must read for everyone and do pass this message to every kid. Let them grow learning what PEACE means to the world, as adults are too grown up to understand and they are absolutely hopeless!!!!

And nowhere in the book I read on Sadako, was there a mention of the US and their ruthless action in the world war II, thus giving a start to spreading "Peace". Love to you, Japan 💓

Writing with a truly heavy heart😢 Peace, please🙏