Watch: Portland Oregon students fold 1000 ‘cranes for peace’

Published 9:00 am Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Shades of reds, blues, yellows and greens now hang on the wall of the Learners’ Hall at the International School of Portland. Upon a closer look, on-lookers will see the small intricate figures carefully folded to take the form of 1000 paper cranes.

In honor of Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month, the community at the International School of Portland worked together on the origami art piece. The school says the project symbolizes peace, kindness and actions against anti-Asian hate.

The project was initiated at the school’s annual Japanese Children’s Day celebration last May. Campus officials say the movement came in response to a recent rise in anti-Asian hate and bias crime. This year several Japanese classes led the tradition by learning how to fold the origami cranes and sharing the symbolism with others around the campus.

The cranes spell out the word “Peace” in the school’s four main languages: Japanese, Mandarin, Spanish, and English.

This tradition began in 1945 when a young girl named Sadako Sasaki developed leukemia after being exposed to radiation from the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Sadako heard about the healing powers of the tradition and folded origami cranes in hopes of recovering. She eventually died, but her friends and family continued to honor her by folding more cranes until they reached a thousand.

Now the tradition “One Thousand Cranes” is done to express empathy and wishes for strength and health. Cranes are also believed to be symbols of good luck and longevity

The Head of School, Bodo Heiliger, feels a similar sentiment for his own community’s talents and says the contributions of Asians, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islander communities should be celebrated not only this month but throughout the year.

“ISP’s mission is to inspire children to become global citizens. Part of that goal is to equip students with the knowledge and skills to value difference; to challenge hate and discrimination; to act positively for change, and to embrace an international perspective across all aspects of learning. To that end, we embarked on a community project to fold 1,000 paper cranes in celebration and solidarity with the AAPI community” said Heiliger.

As for Sadako’s story, it has spread across the world as a global symbol for peace and her message now carries on in at least one Portland school.