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We are tackling the paper crane tradition. We’ll use the paper cranes to decorate our backyard. We’ll put them everywhere: hanging along the red brick wall that leads into our backyard, strung around our focal point/altar, hanging from trees and bushes, and scattered on the dessert, buffet, and guest book table. We’ll also leave some origami out on the tables along with instructions so guests can help us reach our thousand-crane goal.
(source)
Have you heard about why we fold a thousand paper cranes? There is a Japanese saying that anyone who folds a thousand paper cranes gets a wish. There’s also a story about a girl named Sadako Sasaki, who was diagnosed with leukemia after the Hiroshima atomic bomb attack. She and her friends folded a thousand paper cranes in her hospital room as she died from the effects of the bomb.
What will we wish for after we reach our goal? World peace, of course.
These are personal pictures of a trip to Hiroshima I took in 2009 with a girlfriend of mine. If you ever have a chance to visit, please do. Hiroshima is a beautiful city with such a tragic history. Discover the effects of the A-bomb at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and surrounding monuments. Be warned, though: some of the displays are very graphic, and the day will leave you feeling very heavy and sad.
After our ceremony, we are sending our cranes to the Hiroshima Peace Park. The address is:
Peace Promotion Division
The City of Hiroshima
1-5 Nakajima-cho Naka-ku,
Hiroshima 730-0811 Japan
As Mrs. Scissors mentioned, you can also send your paper cranes to The Wedding Co., who will donate $.50 per crane to the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation. Here is the link for more info.
Are you folding a thousand paper cranes? Undertaking any other meaningful traditions?
Thanks for sharing this. I can’t wait to read more.
I think that’s wonderful that the cranes can be donated. Can’t wait to see how they all look at your wedding.
How cool! I had no idea you were able to donate the paper cranes when you were done using them.
I (along with the help of family and friends) folded 1000 paper cranes (senbazuru). Instead of stringing them up, we used them to create a mosaic with a lotus motif similar in style to these. http://www.sumocaarts.com/designgallery2.html
the wedding has since passed, but i still have this very nice piece of artwork which is symbolic of our wedding. we also did a kagami biraki (sake cask breaking ) at our reception.
FH and I did this. We started them a week after we began dating and they were finished within 2 weeks! We did them at work..shhhh! We strung them together and they are all hanging in our apt. We plan on taking them to the wedding and then keeping them after as “art”.
FMIL also attempted this when she was in Japan. She said she only made about 500 but donated them to a hospital she was working in before she moved to the US after meeting FFIL.
I see you are both English teachers. So am I! Every year, my students and I read Sadako Sasaki and the Thousand Paper Cranes, and then as a school we try to fold 1000. I send them to Peace Park every year on behalf of my students. They’re all over my classroom all the time, from students who can’t seem to stop folding after the project ends. I have three golden cranes on top of the computer as I write this. The project has grown to be very meaningful for me, and reading the story with a new group of students every winter is something I really look forward to. I haven’t been to Hiroshima yet myself, but there is also a statue of Sadako Sasaki in Seattle that is small, but beautiful and moving. We will have cranes at our reception, too, as the symbol has become part of me. I am not Japanese, but the story of Sadako has been a good exercise in humility and a reminder that as teachers, we work for peace every day. Have a wonderful wedding!
This is a beautiful project. You will have a beautifully decorated wedding but it will help a wonderful cause like sending them to the Hiroshima Peace Park or the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation. Just a beautiful post.
These not only look amazing, but what a great story and tradition too. Very inspiring.
Thanks for the link to the Wedding Co! I folded 1000 for our wedding in our wedding colors, and we hung them around the gazebo at our ceremony! They looked awesome, and it was fun to do!
mr. sew and i were SO upset that we forgot to bring our cranes to japan to drop off there. total oversight. so we’ll be mailing them over after the 2nd reception..they even send you a thank you card I hear. thanks for the address! world peace, ftw!
I love this tradition. I love it when a couple or a family can embark on a large activity like this together! Can’t wait to see them in all their glory at your wedding.
@mundaetraversa: That is awesome! You are an awesome teacher!
[...] all the decor we’ve got up our sleeves like 1,000 paper cranes, centerpieces, guestbook wishing tree, [...]
I went to Hiroshima last year for the sake festival (I have never seen so many gaijin all in one place!) and had a chance to visit the Peace Museum the next day. There were these guys doing a survey or something and they came up to me and my friend and were basically like, “How does it feel to be an American right now?”
Really awkward, thanks…
[...] out what this WeddingBee has to say about the paper crane [...]
[...] can still send them via mail, so that’s what we’ll do after our second reception (courtesy of Miss Glasses’ post with the [...]
Absolutly beautiful tradition! I am part Japanese and plan to participate in this myself.
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Mrs. Glasses, Tokyo/Los Angeles, CA Age and Occupation: 24, English teacher Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, English teacher Engagement Date: September 2008 Wedding Date: October 2010 Venue: Parents' backyard About Me: I’m an expat living in Tokyo. I’ve been in Japan for almost three years now, where I met my fantastic English fiance. It’s time to leave Japan, so we are planning a fun, intimate, backyard ceremony back home in the suburbs of L.A. in October. Our wedding will be a mix of my love for food, beer, my Japanese culture, and Mr. G’s Englishness. We are on a tiny budget and DIYing almost everything!
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