1000+ Origami Cranes

In some countries in Asia, especially in Japan, there is the myth that if you make 1,000 cranes, you will be granted a wish. I read about this when I was very small, in the Philippines, and I believed.

The most famous person to become involved was Sadako Sasaki, in Japan, who at the age of 12 was diagnosed with leukemia and given only a year to live. She was only two years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, just a mile away from her home.

While in the hospital, Sadako folded cranes to pass the time, and although she did not recover from her sickness, dying just months after the diagnosis, her legacy lives on. Around the time of her death, other people sent her cranes as well. At lease two statues now stand in her honor, one in Hiroshima, Japan and another in Seattle, Washington, U.S.

Read more about her on Wikipedia and The Children’s Peace Monument. You can follow the links to other articles from there if you want to read more.

Click here to go back to the valentinozubiri.com home page.

I used to use just white bond paper, because it brought out the color of the ribbon. However, I encourage everyone to use any type of paper they want, and to deviate from the ribbon if they want to do so as well. When you send me your crane, you can include a dvd or cd of a video related to your work, and / or an essay.

Begin with a square paper. Use the size of bond paper if you are not yet used to folding. Try to be precise, make the points sharp and the creases sharp as well. Ask for help if you need to.

There are 2 folds that result from the previous creases. You will either get a mountain fold, which looks like a triangle, or a square fold, which looks like a square. If you got a mountain fold, just flip the paper over and the square fold will result.

You are now shaping the wings at this stage, by bringing the 2 flaps up on both sides of the square.

The 2 legs that are pointing down are going to be the head and the tail of the crane. You need to make them narrower to make the neck and the tail slim.

On this last stage, bring the “legs” up, and then make the head on one of them.

Click here to go back to the valentinozubiri.com home page.