Folding 1000 cranes
I am re-publishing this post from 2018 with a 2026 update: If you haven’t read this one before – please do. Or feel free to skip to the update at the end.
Not everything on the Kettle List is an exciting travel adventure or designed to expand my brain. Some of them are craft-based and have a bit more substance, like my task of making 1000 origami cranes.
Which, if I have my maths right means I should be doing about 8 a week up until 2027!
I have therefore started on my epic paper folding journey, and I am currently about 40 cranes in.
So well behind schedule! If you fancy joining in and adding this to your list, or maybe just making one to try it out, you will need instructions.
My favourite ones are Lelya Torres & Tavin’s Origami Instructions. So what’s the deal with cranes then? And why am I making 1000 of the things!
Senbazuru – 千羽鶴
According to Japanese culture, the crane is considered a magical, mystical animal that represents both good fortune and longevity. This may be because it was believed that cranes could live for 1000 years, which in turn may have led to the belief that folding 1000 origami cranes would result in your wish coming true.
Origami was originally reserved for religious purposes, mainly due to the cost of paper as it was imported from China. Therefore this task would have been near impossible for the majority of people to complete. While an origami crane is called orizuri (折鶴) the word senbazuru (千羽鶴 ) is used when talking about 1000 cranes. This term is first used in a 1797 book called “Senbazuru Orikake” – which contained instructions on how to fold them. While the practice is hundreds of years old, it came to global prominence with the story of Sadako Sasaki.
Sadako Sasaki
As a child, she was exposed to radiation after the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. Despite surviving the bomb, she was later diagnosed with leukaemia. Hoping that her wish to survive the disease would come true, she set about folding 1000 cranes.
Now, depending on which version you read one of two things happened: In the short story by Eleanor Coerr “Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes” it is claimed that Sadako did not get to complete her task – reaching 644 cranes before finally succumbing to her illness.
To honour her final wish, her classmates continued the folding and she was buried with a wreath of 1000 cranes in October 1955, aged 12. However, her family claim she succeeded in making not just the prerequisite 1000 cranes, but more, and that her classmates made an additional senbazuru which was buried with her. Whatever the true story, there now stands a statue of a young girl holding a crane above her outstretched arms in Hiroshima peace park.
The story also inspired a number of peace memorials around the world…
Make a wish
Once I have completed my task, I will then need to decide what my wish will be, and what I will do with 1000 cranes once they are completed.
I love the idea of taking some to Hiroshima and placing them on the Children’s Peace Monument. It’s somewhere I would really like to visit, along with other parts of Southern Japan, so maybe that could be where some will end up.
The plan is to go for my 50th Birthday in 2027, although I don’t think taking 1000 cranes is going to leave me with a lot of room for other luggage!
What would your wish be? Have you got a long-term task on your Bucket List? What plans do you have in place to achieve it?
A task update
After an excessive effort on my part ( I have managed to tick off a task every month for 3 consecutive months, so wanted to get this done!) I can now say that I am in possession of 1000 cranes. It was tough and they are taking up 3 boxes, which are now being used as an arty coffee table in my living room.
Initially, I had hoped to go to the Peace Park for my 50th birthday, which would take the whole Bucket list full circle, as I visited the country just after my 40th birthday when I started this list.
I am now hoping to go to Hiroshima when I visit Japan again in 2026 and take a few of the cranes with me, although I will be losing a coffee table.
The task, however, was to fold 1,000 Origami Cranes, which I have now done.
So it’s time to break out the stamp.
My 2026 update
You may have previously seen posts where I talk about ‘EBI’, that is : Even Better If.
An example is that in my 40 x 40 one of the tasks was to drive a car, then for the Kettle List I upgraded it to ‘Pass my driving test’.
So this year I was able to EBI the 1,000 cranes task by visiting Hiroshima for myself:
During my 2 weeks in Japan this year, Yumi and I made a trip down to Hiroshima, as well as visiting Miyajima and Kurashiki. While we were planning the trip she asked if I intended to bring some of my cranes. While I knew I wouldn’t be able to bring all of them, it seemed important to bring a few of them.
I packed10 into my hand luggage and thought no more about it.
Once we arrived, we had a slow walk around the Atomic Dome to take some pictures. The building had been built in 1915, and while the copper dome of the building was melted, and all the people within were incinerated by the bomb blast, the walls remained. It was agree to keep the building there, in perpetuity as a reminder of the devastation of nuclear weapons, and war in general.
We decided to go on a guided tour, which is carried out by one of the many volunteers at the Peace Park. The tour was in English, and offered us a lot more information than we would have gleaned from wandering around on our own.
Our guide told us about the local schools, homes and businesses that were affected. She then took us to the statue of Sadako, and I was able to take my own photo of it.
There is also further information available in the museum of Sadako’s fight with Leukemia. One poignant artifact is the box with the tiny cranes, thought to be among the last she made. As mentioned in the post above, her school friends continued to make cranes, and the schools that now visit the park continue to bring strings of cranes in remembrance of both Sadako and the importance of a peaceful world for all children.
During our tour, our guide pointed to the place where people are allowed to leave their cranes. This was it. As I had brought about 10, I offered some to other people there who may have wanted to place a crane themselves. A few happily took up my offer. I finally got to take some of my cranes to the Hiroshima Peace Park. (The lady on my right is Nancy, a teacher from the USA who is also placing one of my cranes).
The best piece of new information that I discovered – and will certainly be making it’s way into my Japan talks – is that the cranes are gathered up and recycled into paper. When students graduate from schools in Hiroshima their certificates are printed on that very paper. Which means our cranes carry on into the lives of the local young people, which I think is beautiful.