Cupertino sends 1000 origami cranes to Toyokawa Japan

Cupertino-Toyokawa Sister Cities, Inc. organized a gift of 1000 cranes for its sister city of Toyokawa, Japan, to commemorate the first anniversary of the opening of the Toyokawa Peace Park. Sister City committee members, visitors to the annual Cupertino Cherry Blossom Festival, and Cupertino school children (particularly a small enthusiastic group of students at L.P. Collin’s Elementary) contributed to the project.

The folding of 1000 origami cranes is a symbolic Japanese gift, presented on occasions such as weddings. The 1000 cranes are said to have the power to lift a wish to the heavens and be granted. 1000 cranes have also come to symbolize the wish for peace, due to the story of Sadako Sasaki. Sadako died from leukemia, an effect of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima during WWII, despite her diligence to fold 1000 cranes for her wish to be cured. To this day, sets of 1000 origami cranes continue to be delivered to Hiroshima’s Peace Park, from around the world.

In 2018, Toyokawa inaugurated its own Peace Park at the restored site of the bombing of Japan’s Naval Armory on August 7, 1945, during WW II. An annual event is planned to honor those who died, and to renew the wish for lasting peace. In November of 2018, a visiting delegation from Cupertino had the opportunity to tour the Toyokawa Peace Park that includes many artifacts and remembrances of the 2,500 people who perished during the Toyokawa Air Raid. A lessor known story than Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Toyokawa was one of the last places to be targeted using conventional explosive and incendiary bombs in the closing days of World War II.

The gift of 1000 cranes being sent to Toyokawa, Japan represents a continued renewal of the sister cities’ friendship and wish for lasting peace.