Message from Hiroshima

Recently, Year 8 Japanese class has been learning about the message from Hiroshima. Hiroshima is a city in Japan, the first-ever city in the world to suffer an atomic bombing, which is awfully tragic to hear. What is truly inspiring, however, is the story of a survivor who was a girl named Sadako Sasaki. Sadako was a strong and brave girl who always had a courageous spirit. At the age of just two years old, she experienced an atomic bombing which affected her health deeply. Sadako was a very athletic person and she loved to run. In 1955 when she was 11 years of age, she was practicing for an upcoming race but became dizzy and plummeted to the ground. She was then later on diagnosed with leukemia due to the radiation she had been exposed to from the atomic bomb. As we mentioned earlier Sadako was truly courageous and brave, that being said, she spent the rest of her life making paper cranes as her best friend had told her that there was an old Japanese legend that would make her wish of being able to run again come true if she was able to make 1000 paper cranes. She ended up making over one thousand paper cranes before tragically passing away at the young age of 12. Her story touched not just ours but many hearts as she never gave up trying to achieve her dream, even whilst suffering from cancer. After her passing, Sadako’s hope was still spread all around the world.  A statue was made in Japan to honour and commemorate Sadako and her paper cranes, becoming an international symbol of peace. We are glad to have heard her story and hopefully teach others about it too, with the aim to inspire and never forget her in the upcoming generations.  Sadako’s story inspires us all to have courage and hope in our minds and soul.

We have made some paper cranes in honour of Sadako Sasaki.

Alexandra Marasigan and Youssef Tannous 8.7