The Space Waraku
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As a regular Japanese, I was familiar with origami crane. When we were children, we were told to make the thousand of cranes for the prayer to the recovery of sick loved ones. Later, we learned to make them for the peace through the understanding of world history. I believe the peace will bring us happiness, longevity, and eternal youth to enjoy the life. It will give us the meaning of good fortune. I wish I will remind this whenever I make the crane.
Throught Asia, the crane is a symbol of happiness and eternal youth. In Japan, it is one of the mystical or holy creatures like dragon and tortoise, and it symbolizes good fortune and longevity bacause of its fabled life span of a thousand years.
An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who fold a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by a crane.
The crane came to symbolize peace through the story of Sadako Sasaki, who suffered and died from leukemia as a result of atomic bombing in Hiroshima, Japan.
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, Eleanor Coerr, Puffin Modern Classics, 2004(1977).
The Space Waraku
itotemar