Sadako Sasaki

Sadako Sasaki (January 7, 1943 -- October 25, 1955) was a Japanese girl who lived near Misasa Bridge in Hiroshima, Japan. She was only two years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. At the moment of explosion she was at her home, about 1 mile from ground zero. As she grew up, Sadako was a strong, courageous and athletic girl. In 1954, at age eleven, while training for a big race, she became dizzy and fell to the ground. Sadako was diagnosed with leukemia, the "atom bomb disease".

Sadako's best friend told her of an old Japanese legend which said that anyone who folds a thousand origami paper cranes would be granted a wish. Sadako hoped that the gods would grant her a wish to get well so that she could run again. However, it was not just for herself that she wished healing. It is said that what made the girl truly special in her effort was her additional wish to end all such suffering, to bring peace and healing to the victims of the world. She spent fourteen months in the hospital, and she folded over 1,300 paper cranes before dying at the age of twelve. She folded the cranes out of her medicine bottle wrappers and any other paper she could find in hopes of getting better. (A popular version of the story, given in Eleanor Coerr's "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes", is that she fell short of her goal of folding 1,000 cranes, having folded only 644 before her death, and that her friends completed the remaining 356 cranes and buried all 1,000 cranes with her.)

After her death, her friends and schoolmates published a collection of letters to raise funds to build a memorial to her and all of the children who died from the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. It was also a popular cause for children and others in Japan. In 1958, a statue of Sadako holding a golden crane was unveiled in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. At the foot of the statue is a plaque which reads, "This is our cry. This is our prayer. Peace in the world."
There is also a statue of her in the Seattle Peace Park. Sadako has become a leading symbol of the impact of a nuclear war. Sadako is a heroine for many young girls.

Sadako's story became familiar to many schoolchildren around the world through the novel "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes" by Eleanor Coerr, first published in 1977. Sadako is also briefly mentioned in "Children of the Ashes", Robert Jungk's historical account of the lives of Hiroshima victims and survivors. Her story continues to inspire millions to hope for lasting peace in the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadako_S...

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[xXxCakeIsKawaiixXx]

Im so fking pizzed off at my grade 5 teacher. last year we did this thing called tusc. it stands for totally unbelievable speackers club. for one of the meetings, i was biographer. i did sadako. but what rlly pizzes me off is that at the end she was like, "are you sure sadako was a real person?" LIKE OMFG ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!??!?!? I FORCED HER TO READ THIS GOD DAMN FREAKING BOOK AND SHE DISIDES TO BE A COMPLETE RETARDED IDIIOT?!?!?!? WOW!!!!!!! I CRYED AT THE END OF THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[emmie55559]

@xXxCakeIsKawaiixXx well this is a very old story and maybe the teacher didnt kow who she was because this took place ina different country.

[BrielleRichardson]

0:11 is that her coffin? :(

[emmie55559]

@BrielleRichardson yes its her coffin.



[xXxCakeIsKawaiixXx]

@emmie55559 but she said this AFTER i forced he to read the book to our class!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sappiredark]

my teacher read this in 5th grade. she cried cuz she couldn't imagine that happening to her sons

[muffingirl221]

OMG this is a sad book

[balloonteddyxx]

were learnin bout her in school

[PrincessHv101]

we are reading the book in school. I wish they would make a movie.

[PoppyGabriellaMusic]

i saw a play about this today!!