ONE THOUSAND origami cranes folded by students at Birkdale State School have had a smooth landing at Hiroshima Peace Park in Japan.
The Peace Park lies in the centre of Hiroshima as a memorial to the nuclear bomb dropped on the city during the Second World War in 1945.
The tradition of folding 1000 paper cranes was popularised by Sadako Sasaki, a Japanese girl who was exposed to radiation from the Hiroshima bomb. Sadako folded these cranes to symbolise longevity and peace.
Birkdale State School Japanese teacher Walker Sensei organised the project, and a family friend installed the cranes at the park.
“Whilst living in Japan I visited Hiroshima on August 6, 2002, which was the anniversary of the day the bomb dropped,” Mr Walker said.
“When walking around the Peace Park, I came across the statue of Sadako and then learnt about her story of folding 1000 paper cranes and wishing for world peace.”
After emigrating to Australia in 2018, Mr Walker “wanted to teach children the story and give students a way to practise writing Japanese whilst thinking about how precious life is”.
Folding 1000 cranes is no mean feat and took the students over three months, even with help from family.
Students who were unable to fold cranes instead folded paper hearts with hand-written messages inside.
Birkdale State School received a warming email from alumnus Chiena Truscott, whose mother was present during the bombing of Hiroshima.
Mrs Truscott said that while taking her 25-year-old daughter to the Peace Park, she found the hearts containing “beautiful messages” from Birkdale State School students.
“I was blown away with the synchronicity of this moment, as (they were) in an area way off from the main part of the park,” Mrs Truscott said.
Next year, Mr Walker is hoping to take students to Nagasaki Peace Park, where the second atomic bomb was dropped.
