The Background:

Paper cranes symbolize peace in Japan. They are inspired by Sadako Sasaki, a
Japanese girl who lived near Hiroshima, Japan.

Sadako Sasaki was only two years old when the atomic bomb burst in Hiroshima
on August 6, 1945. She was diagnosed with leukemia (atomic bomb disease) when she
was eleven years old (11). Her friend, Chizuko, gave her the idea of making a thousand
paper cranes through the art of paper folding. Folding one thousand paper cranes is an
old Japanese legend which told that anyone who folds a thousand paper cranes please
the Gods, and the folder is granted a wish. After Sadako folded 500 cranes, she felt better.
After a week, she went to sleep and never woke-up again. She folded 644 paper cranes.
Then, she died on October 25. 1955.

Sadako’s friends continued to fold paper cranes until Sadako’s cranes reached
one thousand.

Listen to the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibO4Q9LljnQ

 A Thousand Paper Cranes

With a renewed pledge for peace,

I fold a scarlet crane;
And with a pure and noble heart
I fold a bright red crane,
Burning with emotion.

With a fervent prayer for peace

I fold a purple crane
And for the people buried in the fields
I fold a yellow crane
And then I fold a dark blue crane
For the people sunken in the water’s depths.

With an inspiration for peace,

I fold a grass-green crane;
And for the liver heaven than Earth,
I fold an indigo crane,
And then I fold a soft pink crane,
Gazing with hope and dreams to the future.

And still gazing with hope and dreams,

I fold a rainbow-colored crane.