Origami is the Japanese art of folding paper into shapes. The word literally means paper folding. Usually, origami sculptures take the shape of animals. One of the most traditional animal shapes made is a crane.
After WWII, a novel was written about the true story of a little girl who developed cancer due to the aftereffects of the bombing of Hiroshima. The novel, and subsequent movie, is called Sadako and the 1000 Paper Cranes. After being diagnosed with leukemia, she was told of a belief that folding 1000 paper cranes would get a wish granted. So, she folded many but unfortunately died before finishing all 1000. Her friends and classmates folded the remainder, and Sadako became a symbol for peace.
As part of an origami theme, we watched the short movie, which can be viewed at archive.org Afterwards, we made our own cranes. There's a tradition where people make origami cranes all over the world and mail them to the Paper Crane Club in Japan where they are placed on the statue that was erected in Sadako's honor. With our cranes ready to roll, we'll be mailing them out soon.
Granted, our cranes possibly look more like ugly ducklings than cranes. Origami isn't easy! At least, making cranes isn't easy. Possibly, there's some other shapes that are more starter level.
Regardless the imperfectness of our cranes, the making of them was a lot of fun. For instructions on how to make them, check out wikihow. Just remember, they don't have to be perfect. Just have fun.
Click to see more of the World Culture Tour!