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Paper crane folded by Sadako Sasaki is put on display in Pearl Harbor

by Michiko Tanaka, Staff Writer

From September 21 (Japan time), a paper crane folded by Sadako Sasaki will go on permanent display in the Visitor Center of the USS Arizona Memorial, located in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the site of the outbreak of the Pacific War. Sadako, a girl who was exposed to the atomic bombing at the age of two, and died ten years later, at 12, as a result of radiation-induced leukemia, folded paper cranes during her stay in the hospital. After her death, she served as the inspiration for the Children’s Peace Monument, which stands in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.

Sadako’s crane is the first artifact at the Visitor Center linked to the damage caused by the atomic bombing. Donations from Japanese-Americans living in Hawaii covered the costs of the display case and explanatory panel.

The tiny crane is about one centimeter long. Members of Sadako’s family, who have preserved her cranes, proposed the idea of this donation last September in hopes of strengthening ties between the United States and Japan by contributing to reconciliation. The display was made possible through the efforts of Clifton Truman Daniel, the grandson of President Harry S. Truman, who gave the order to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

To construct the display case and panel, Wayne Miyao, 66, the chairman of the Hiroshima-Hawaii Sister State Committee, and others sought donations from chambers of commerce and industry, Buddhist temples, and an association of Hiroshima natives residing in Hawaii. In one year, they were able to collect 72,000 dollars, or about 7 million yen.

Members of Sadako’s family are expected to attend the unveiling ceremony on September 21, which will include speeches by U.S. veterans.

The USS Arizona Memorial lies above the battleship USS Arizona, which sank during the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor. In 1995, the Smithsonian Institute’s Air and Space Museum, located in Washington, D.C., had planned to hold an exhibition about the atomic bombings, but it was called off after U.S. veterans voiced criticism.

Mr. Miyao said that understanding between the two sides has grown over the years and that displaying the paper crane from Hiroshima at Pearl Harbor is a significant step. He intends to tell Sadako’s story to others in Hawaii to help promote a message of peace.

(Originally published on September 20, 2013)

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