Nagasaki: Volunteer Group Recycles Many Origami Cranes for Atomic Bomb Victims; Spreads Wish for Peace in Different Form

The Yomiuri Shimbun

10:23 JST, December 14, 2024

NAGASAKI — Thousands of origami cranes strung together that visitors donate to the Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall of the Atomic Bomb Victims as a prayer for lasting peace are taken apart after a certain period of time, and the paper is recycled, as it is difficult to preserve all of them.

Members of a volunteer group in Nagasaki have conducted the work in a room at the Peace Memorial Hall on the 9th of almost every month because the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945.

They carefully remove the strings and decorative beads holding the cranes together, unfold them one by one back into their original sheets of paper and send them to an organization in Hiroshima, the other city devastated by an atomic bomb, for reuse.

The recycling is done at a workplace in Hiroshima for people with disabilities. They also reprocess paper cranes that were donated to Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park. The workers repurpose the materials to create stationery such as notepads, mounts for business cards and bookmarks.

A 75-year-old member of the volunteer group in Nagasaki is a second-generation atomic bomb survivor.

“Our work helps spread a wish for peace in a different form,” she said. “As we approach the 80th year since the end of the war, we hope to continue conveying thoughts and prayers sent to Nagasaki.”