Hawaii elementary, junior-high, high school students to stage musical in Hiroshima in September about life of Sadako Sasaki, with aim of building bridges
Mar. 18, 2023
Enthusiasm overcomes coronavirus pandemic
by Aya Nishimura, Staff Writer
Ohana Arts, a musical group made up of elementary, junior-high, and high school students based in Honolulu, will stage a musical about the life of Sadako Sasaki, the girl who served as the model for the Children’s Peace Monument, in Hiroshima later this year in September. The musical was postponed previously due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the group’s long-held wish of performing in Hiroshima is set to finally come true.
Titled “Peace On Your Wings,” the original musical was inspired by paper cranes that were donated in 2013 to the USS Arizona Memorial, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, that Sadako had folded on her sickbed while battling leukemia. When it premiered in Hawaii in 2015, the musical won glowing reviews, with performances following in Los Angeles, New York, and other cities in the United States. The Hiroshima show will be performed by 24 elementary, junior-high, and high school students.
A performance of the musical was originally scheduled to take place in Hiroshima three years ago, the year marking the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing, but the pandemic forced that schedule’s cancellation. Fundraising also proved to be difficult. The enthusiasm exhibited by Jenny Taira and others for introducing Hawaii’s children to Hiroshima, however, moved to action citizens of Honolulu and Hiroshima as well as people in political and business circles. Ms. Taira is one of the original founders of Ohana Arts and a fourth-generation Japanese American whose ancestors were from Hiroshima.
Shinichiro Kurose, honorary chairman of trustees of the Hiroshima YMCA, serves as chair of the executive committee for the performance in Hiroshima. “This is a wonderful musical that will serve as a bridge between Hawaii and Hiroshima,” said Mr. Kurose, in of an expression of his enthusiasm for the project. The musical will be performed a total of three times September 2–3 at JMS Aster Plaza, located in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward. The event will be performed in English, with Japanese subtitles displayed on stage. Tickets will be priced at 3,000 yen and are scheduled to go on sale in June. For further information, contact the executive committee at 090-4690-7059.
(Originally published on March 18, 2023)
