Children's Peace Monument

The Children’s Peace Monument was created through the efforts of classmates of Sadako Sasaki, who died at the age of 12.
Sadako was exposed to the atomic bomb when she was two years old but grew up healthy afterward. However, nine years later she suddenly developed leukemia and died at age 12. During her illness, she kept folding paper cranes from wrapping paper and other materials in hopes of recovery, and the number is said to have reached 1,300. While origami cranes are one of the traditional origami forms, it was this story that led them to be folded as a symbol of peace. Completed in 1958, the monument was supported by donations from more than 3,000 students across Japan and from nine countries worldwide. The bronze figure at the top is 3 meters tall and depicts a girl holding a large golden paper crane up to the sky. The pedestal is 6 meters tall, and the stone inscription below reads: "This is our cry. This is our prayer. For building peace in the world." In 2002, a booth was installed to protect the paper cranes offered from around the world from wind and rain. Access to the Children’s Peace Monument: get off the streetcar at "Genbaku Dome-mae," or take a Hiroshima Bus service and get off at "Heiwa Kinen Kōen" (Peace Memorial Park).