Sadako and Paper Cranes: Through Our Eyes

In observance of 80 years since the bombing of Hiroshima, Sadako and Paper Cranes examines the devastation of nuclear war through the work of local artists.

80 years ago, on August 6, 1945, Sadako Sasaki was just 2 years old when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, where she lived with her family. Although she survived the blast and was not injured at the time, she began to develop the symptoms of leukemia 9 years later and eventually succumbed to her illness. While she was in the hospital, she folded over 1,000 origami paper cranes, a symbol of good luck. Sadako’s classmates started a national movement to build the Children’s Peace Monument as a tribute to her. The Monument was dedicated in 1958 and sits at the center of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Japan.

On loan from the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima, Japan, on the 80th anniversary of the bombing, Sadako and Paper Cranes examines the devastation of nuclear war through the eyes of the youth that experienced the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

In addition to the panels, the Japanese American Museum of Oregon has invited local artists, both professional and students, to create works in response to Sadako’s story. This companion exhibit brings together multiple generations of artists to contribute to ongoing discussions about peace and nuclear disarmament. Artists include Erin Shigaki, Lynn Yarne, Marie Johnston, Maya McDarragh, and six students from Grant High School.

Sadako and Paper Cranes is on loan from the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima, Japan, and is generously supported by The George and Sakaye Aratani CARE Award and UCLA’s Asian American Studies Center, Lamb-Baldwin Foundation, Minidoka Pilgrimage Planning Committee, Portland JACL, and Ronald W. Naito MD Foundation.