Bookstore enlists help to fold 1,000 paper cranes

August 13, 2021  |  By Waterbury Roundabout 

'Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes' by Eleanor Coerr is based on the story of Sadako Sasaki. Courtesy photo

In honor of  World Peace Day  on Sept. 21, Bridgeside Books is asking community members of all ages to help fold 1,000 paper cranes to hang in the bookstore and then send to the Hiroshima Memorial Peace Park in Japan. 

The project is inspired by a book based on the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima at the end of World War II. “One of the most memorable books I read as a child was ‘Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes,’ a fictionalized account of a real 12-year-old Japanese girl who folded more than 1,000 cranes before dying of leukemia from the atomic bomb,” explained bookstore owner Katya d’Angelo. 

“In Japanese legend, folding 1,000 paper cranes grants a wish. Sadako wished to get well,” she said, noting that a statue of Sadako today stands in the Peace Park in Hiroshima as Sadako and the paper cranes have become symbols of peace.

August 6 was Japan's annual Peace Day and the anniversary of the bombing. Bridgeside Books has free packets of paper available for folding, and additional origami paper for purchase. The shop also has Sadako’s story in several formats including a picture book for young children and a young-adult volume. 

To begin, d’Angelo suggests checking out online tutorials for folding paper cranes or asking her for a demonstration. “My fourth grade class folded 1,000 and I still remember!” she said. 

Those who participate should bring completed cranes back to the store by Sept. 21.