The Legacy of Sadako
Unveiling of the Exhibit
The members of Japanese Educational Tour of Colony High School met Mr. Masahiro Sasaki on March 11th, 2017 where he shared his thoughts about peace in the world. Mr. Masahiro Sasaki is an elder brother of Miss Sadako Sasaki who is the model for “The Children’s Peace Monument” in the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima. After being exposed to the atomic bomb, Sadako Sasaki suffered from leukemia and died at age of 12. Since her death, Mr. Sasaki has spent his time as an advocate of the world peace movement. Mr. Sasaki donated paper cranes that were folded by Sadako-san to the National 9/11 Memorial & Museum, The Pearl Harbor Museum, and the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum in Independence, Missouri. Mr. Sasaki continues to appeal for world peace.
The members of Japanese Educational Tour of Colony High School presented a dream catcher as an Alaskan native art craft, an autographed letter from U.S. Congressman Don Young, and the flag of the United States of America that flew on Capitol Hill in Washington DC on February 11, 2017. February 11th is “National Foundation Day” in Japan. In return, Mr. Sasaki presented the Japanese Educational tour group with connected paper cranes which were folded by Mr. Sasaki. Colony High School is the first school in the world to receive one of Mr. Sasaki’s connected paper cranes. The members of the Japanese Educational Tour of Colony High School decided to donate the connected paper cranes to the UAA/APU Consortium Library as part of a permanent display which will be seen by tens of thousands of library visitors each year. The exhibit includes not only the connected paper cranes by Mr. Sasaki but hundreds of other paper cranes (Orizuru) folded by people in support of world peace.
