Tsuru is sacred bird of japan. is the symbol of health, good luck, happiness, longevity and fortune.
Japanese legend tells that the tsuru can live up to a thousand years. It is considered the companion bird of the hermits who took refuge in the mountains to meditate, believing they had supernatural powers so as not to age.
Japanese legend says that if a person makes 1000 tsurus, using the technique of origami – a secular art of folding the paper, with the thought turned to a wish, it can come true.
Initially, the tsuru origami had only a decorative function, it was used to decorate the children's room. Later, the tsuru was associated with prayers, being offered in temples, accompanied by requests for protection. Today it is used as an ornament on New Year's parties, baptisms, weddings, among other celebrations.
The Tsuru and the Day of Peace
In 1945, after the explosion of the bomb in Hiroshima, several diseases emerged in Japan among the survivors of the war. Little 12-year-old Sadako has been diagnosed with Leukemia.
In hospital treatment she received from a friend several colored papers for her to make 1000 origami from the tsuru, along with a request for healing. As the disease got worse every day, Sadako began to ask for world peace. But on October 25, 1955, after completing 964 tsurus, she passed away.
The friends completed the 1000 tsurus and started a campaign to raise money to build a monument for peace. In 1958 the monument was unveiled in Hiroshima Peace Park. Every year, on the 6th of August, the day of the bombing, there is a ceremony in the park, for peace and to remember the victims of Hiroshima.