HIROSHIMA DAY COMMEMORATED

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 3, Issue 12, 13 August 1985, Page 16

HIROSHIMA DAY COMMEMORATED

Paper cranes were presenied to shopkeepers and one minute's silence was observed by a large group at the Ohakune War Memorial in Clyde Street, to commemorate Hiroshima Day last Tuesday 6 August. The activities were organised by the Waimarino Peace Group, who made the paper cranes and visited businesses in Raetihi and Ohakune and presented them with the origami figures, along with an explanation of the significance of the crane. At midday, many people gathered at the War Memorial including a number of Ohakune Primary and Ruapehu College students, who sang 'The Peace Song'. The Waimarino Brass Band also played several tunes before the crowd dispersed. The crane is one of the best known origami figures

— a symbol oi good lortune and longevity. According to tradition a thousand cranes will ensure the recovery of a sick person. In the last 40 years the crane has become a symbol of peace and children from all over the world send folded cranes to be placed at the Hiroshima Shrine on the anniversary of the atomic . bombing. Sadako Sasaki died when she was 12. She lived in Hiroshima as a two-year-old when the bomb struck. Ten years later she was in hospital with leukaemia as a result. She began folding paper cranes and had managed to make 644 when she died. Her classmates folded the rest and also erected a memorial to their friend. It shows Sadaki standing on a mountain of paradise with a golden crane in her outstretched hands.