| One of the most popular monuments in Peace Memorial Park is the Children's Peace Monument, also known as the Tower of the Paper Cranes. This monument was inspired by Sadako Sasaki, a vivacious young girl struck down by radiation aftereffects. Sadako, two at the time of the bombing, was one of many children who developed leukemia about ten years later. In the hospital she folded over a thousand paper cranes using medicine wrapping paper in the hope that doing so would cure her. She and her classmates continued bravely folding the cranes until the day she died-October 25, 1955. Sadako's grieving classmates decided to build a monument in her honor. Their sincere passion led to a nationwide fundraising campaign to build a monument for her and the thousands of other children lost to the atomic bombing. With contributions from all over Japan, the monument was built and unveiled on May 5, 1958. On top of the concrete tower stands the bronze statue of a young girl holding over her head a huge paper crane symbolizing the hope of all children for a peaceful future. |