Historical Figure
Sadako Sasaki
1943–1955
Japanese hibakusha, student, and origami artist (1943–1955)
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Biography
Sadako Sasaki was a Japanese girl who became a victim of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima by the United States. She was two years of age when the bombs were dropped and was severely irradiated. She survived for another ten years, becoming one of the most widely known hibakusha—a Japanese term meaning "bomb-affected person". She is remembered through the story of the more than one thousand origami cranes she folded before her death. She died at the age of 12 on October 25, 1955, at the Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital.
Timeline
The story of Sadako Sasaki, told in moments.
The atomic bomb hit Hiroshima. She was two. The blast blew her out of a window. Her mother found her alive, seemingly unhurt. They were caught in the black rain that fell afterward. Her grandmother ran back inside and died.
Diagnosed with leukemia at 12 after developing swollen lymph nodes and purple spots on her legs. "Atomic bomb disease," people in Hiroshima called it. She was hospitalized and given a year to live. She'd been the fastest runner on her school relay team.
Began folding paper cranes in the hospital. A Japanese legend says folding a thousand cranes grants a wish. She folded over a thousand. Some were tiny, made from medicine wrappers, folded with a needle.
Died at Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital. She was 12. Her classmates raised money for a memorial. A statue of Sadako holding a golden crane now stands in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. Children from around the world send paper cranes to her monument every year.
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