Sadako's Story

There were many horrific events during the Second World War. One of the most devastating was the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima in Japan. Many people were killed instantly and many more died later from the effects of radiation. This is the touching story of one victim, a Japanese girl called Sadako Sasaki. Her story is still remembered today.

Sadako was only two when the bomb fell but she took part in the peace celebrations every year because her grandmother died during the war. Sadako was 11 when she found out she had leukaemia - a type of cancer which was caused by the radiation fallout.

The disease changed Sadako's life. She was unhappy because she could not go to school. However, she knew that some people recover from leukaemia, so she never gave up hope.

Her best friend, Chizuko came to visit her and told her a story to cheer her up. It was about a bird - a crane - which was supposed to live for 1,000 years. The story advised anyone who was ill to make 1,000 paper cranes and the gods would make them well again. Sadako believed that if she made all those paper cranes, the gods might really make her better. Chizuko showed Sadako how to make a paper crane using origami - the ancient Japanese art of paper folding - and Sadako set to work. All her visitors brought coloured paper for her to make the cranes and Sadako's brother hung the finished ones from the hospital ceiling.

Sadly, Sadako did not reach her target. She made 644 paper cranes before she died aged 12 on 12th October 1955. Her friends from school folded the last 356, so that Sadako could be buried with 1,000 paper cranes.

Many people found out about Sadako when the letters she wrote were collected and made into a book called "Kokeshi". Young people all over Japan were touched by her story and raised money to build a memorial to her and all the children who had died because of the atom bomb.

A statue of Sadako holding a golden crane is engraved with the words:

"This is our cry,

This is our prayer,

Peace in the world."

The statue can still be seen today in Hiroshima Peace Park and every year on Peace Day, people make paper cranes and place them by her statue.