Peace Park was established on August 6, 1990, the 45th anniversary
of the bombing of Hiroshima. It's fairly small in size--so small
that you probably wouldn't even notice you walked/drove by a park
without taking a closer look.
Peace Park is the current home of the Sadako and the Thousand
Cranes sculpture, created in 1990 by artist Daryl Smith. The statue
is a life-size bronze of Sadako Sasaki, a replica of the monument
in Hiroshima, Japan located near the site of the Atom Bomb dropped
on August 6, 1945. Her story* has inspired millions to hope for
lasting peace in the world:
_____________________________________
Sadako was only two years old on August 6, 1945 when she became
a victim of the atomic bomb.
At the time of the explosion Sadako was at home, about 1 mile
from ground zero. By November 1954, chicken pox had developed on
her neck and behind her ears. Then in January 1955, purple spots
had started to form on her legs. Subsequently, she was diagnosed
with leukemia. She was hospitalized on February 21, 1955 and given,
at the most, a year to live.
On August 3, 1955, Chizuko Hamamoto — Sadako's best friend —
came to the hospital to visit and cut a golden piece of paper into
a square and folded it into a paper crane. At first Sadako didn't
understand why Chizuko was doing this but then Chizuko retold the
story about the paper cranes. Inspired by the crane, she started
folding them herself, spurred on by the Japanese saying that one
who folded 1,000 cranes was granted a wish.
Though she had plenty of free time during her days in the
hospital to fold the cranes, she lacked paper. She would use
medicine wrappings and whatever else she could scrounge up. This
included going to other patients' rooms to ask to use the paper
from their get-well presents. Chizuko would bring paper from school
for Sadako to use.
During her time in hospital her condition progressively
worsened. Around mid-October her left leg became swollen and turned
purple. After her family urged her to eat something, Sadako
requested tea on rice and remarked "It's good." Those were her last
words. With her family around her, Sadako died on the morning of
October 25, 1955.
Having folded only 644 before her death, Sadako's friends
fulfilled her wish by completing the 1,000 and burying them all
with her. An exhibit which appeared in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial
Museum stated that by the end of August, 1955, Sadako had achieved
her goal and continued to fold more cranes.
After her death, Sadako's friends and schoolmates published a
collection of letters in order to raise funds to build a memorial
to her and all of the children who had died from the effects of the
atomic bomb. In 1958, a statue of Sadako holding a golden crane was
unveiled in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, also called the Genbaku
Dome. At the foot of the statue is a plaque that reads:
"This is our cry. This is our prayer. Peace in the
world."
The cache is a magnetic key holder hidden near the statue. Remember
to BYOP and as always be on the lookout for muggles. This one is
almost in my own (temporary) backyard so I will be watching. ;)
While visiting this cache, I would recommend taking a moment of
silence for all those who have fought in or have fallen victim to
the wars throughout history.
*Source: Wikipedia
***Congrats to harveytitan for their first FTF and
rodgowdy for his 2200th find!***