#40 Make 1000 Origami Cranes

Folding 1000 cranes

Not everything on the Kettle List is an exciting travel adventure or designed to expand my brain.  Some of them are craft-based and have a bit more substance, like my task of making 1000 origami cranes.

Which, if I have my maths right means I should be doing about 8 a week up until 2027!

I have therefore started on my epic paper folding journey, and I am currently about 40 cranes in.

So well behind schedule! If you fancy joining in and adding this to your list, or maybe just making one to try it out, you will need instructions.

My favourite ones are Lelya Torres & Tavin’s Origami Instructions.  So what’s the deal with cranes then? And why am I making 1000 of the things!

Senbazuru – 千羽鶴

According to Japanese culture, the crane is considered a magical, mystical animal that represents both good fortune and longevity.  This may be because it was believed that cranes could live for 1000 years, which in turn may have led to the belief that folding 1000 origami cranes would result in your wish coming true.  

Origami was originally reserved for religious purposes, mainly due to the cost of paper as it was imported from China. Therefore this task would have been near impossible for the majority of people to complete. While an origami crane is called orizuri (折鶴) the word senbazuru (千羽鶴 ) is used when talking about 1000 cranes.  This term is first used in a 1797 book called “Senbazuru Orikake” – which contained instructions on how to fold them.  While the practice is hundreds of years old, it came to global prominence with the story of Sadako Sasaki.

Sadako Sasaki

As a child, she was exposed to radiation after the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945.  Despite surviving the bomb, she was later diagnosed with leukaemia.  Hoping that her wish to survive the disease would come true, she set about folding 1000 cranes. 

Now, depending on which version you read one of two things happened: In the short story by Eleanor Coerr “Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes” it is claimed that Sadako did not get to complete her task – reaching 644 cranes before finally succumbing to her illness.

To honour her final wish, her classmates continued the folding and she was buried with a wreath of 1000 cranes in October 1955, aged 12.  However, her family claim she succeeded in making not just the prerequisite 1000 cranes, but more, and that her classmates made an additional senbazuru which was buried with her. Whatever the true story, there now stands a statue of a young girl holding a crane above her outstretched arms in Hiroshima peace park.

The story also inspired a number of peace memorials around the world…

Make a wish

Once I have completed my task, I will then need to decide what my wish will be, and what I will do with 1000 cranes once they are completed.

I love the idea of taking some to Hiroshima and placing them on the Children’s Peace Monument.  It’s somewhere I would really like to visit, along with other parts of Southern Japan, so maybe that could be where some will end up. 

The plan is to go for my 50th Birthday in 2027, although I don’t think taking 1000 cranes is going to leave me with a lot of room for other luggage!

What would your wish be? Have you got a long-term task on your Bucket List? What plans do you have in place to achieve it?

A task update

After an excessive effort on my part ( I have managed to tick off a task every month for 3 consecutive months, so wanted to get this done!) I can now say that I am in possession of 1000 cranes. It was tough and they are taking up 3 boxes, which are now being used as an arty coffee table in my living room.

Initially, I had hoped to go to the Peace Park for my 50th birthday, which would take the whole Bucket list full circle, as I visited the country just after my 40th birthday when I started this list.

I am now hoping to go to Hiroshima when I visit Japan again for the Osaka Expoin 2025 and take a few of the cranes with me, although I will be losing a coffee table.

The task, however, was to fold 1,000 Origami Cranes, which I have now done.

So it’s time to break out the stamp.