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When Sadako enters the Red Cross Hospital with a diagnosis of leukemia—a result of exposure to lingering radiation from the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War Two—she is devastated and frightened. Little brings her comfort during her long days of tests, shots, and transfusions, and even visits from her family only make her sadder and more afraid. One day, Sadako’s best friend from school, Chizuko comes to visit her, and she brings with her several pieces of origami paper and a pair of scissors. Chizuko reminds Sadako of the legend of magical cranes which live for a thousand years, and tells Sadako that if she folds one thousand cranes, surely she will be restored to health and live a long, happy life. Chizuko folds a golden crane for Sadako and teaches her how to make her own, and soon Sadako—with the help of her family, nurses, and doctors—is well on her way to her goal of folding a thousand cranes.
The cranes are the central symbol of the novel and represent the book’s themes and motifs of hope, perseverance, and the acceptance of death. Though these things might seem in conflict with one another, the cranes serve as a symbol of how freedom can take many different forms. In the wake of the horrific attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, many Japanese citizens died immediately, but many others also suffered residual effects of the radiation from the bombs—Sadako is a casualty of these residual effects, and winds up in the hospital with leukemia. The cranes, as she builds them, seem at first to offer the promise that Sadako will live—that if she can just make enough of them, she will be spared from death. As Sadako grows weaker, though, and the cranes become harder and harder to build, the act of folding even just one is a feat of great strength. The many cranes that surround Sadako’s hospital beds symbolize all she has conquered during her illness, but also come to symbolize the freedom and peace that death offers from suffering. In addition, they more broadly symbolize a hope for a world that is free of such suffering. As Sadako dies, she looks up at her hundreds and hundreds of cranes and remarks on how free they seem—how empty of pain and how beautiful.
Paper Cranes Quotes in Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes
The Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes quotes below all refer to the symbol of Paper Cranes. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 5 Quotes
That afternoon Chizuko was Sadako’s first visitor. She smiled mysteriously as she held something behind her back. “Shut your eyes,” she said. While Sadako squinted her eyes shut, Chizuko put some pieces of paper and scissors on the bed. “Now you can look,” she said.
“What is it?” Sadako asked.
Chizuko was pleased with herself. “I’ve figured out a way for you to get well,” she said proudly. “Watch!” She cut a piece of gold paper into a large square. In a short time she had folded it over and over into a beautiful crane.
Sadako was puzzled. “How can that paper bird make me well?”
“Don’t you remember that old story about the crane?” Chizuko asked. “It’s supposed to live for a thousand years. If a sick person folds one thousand paper cranes, the gods will grant her wish and make her healthy again.” She handed the crane to Sadako. “Here’s your first one.”
Sadako’s eyes filled with tears. Sadako took the golden crane and made a wish. The funniest little feeling came over her when she touched the bird. It must be a good omen.
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In the hospital, Sadako is alone for the first time, and deeply frightened. She is saddened by the reality of her illness and afraid of what comes next. When her friend Chizuko visits, her company alone lifts Sadako’s mood, but things really turn around when Chizuko introduces Sadako to the legend of the paper cranes. Sadako, whose optimism and hope had begun to slip away, finds it restored by the promise of the idea that folding cranes could be her path back to health and her old life. Just touching the crane that Chizuko has made for Sadako with love Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accu
Chapter 6 Quotes
Everyone saved paper for Sadako’s good luck cranes. Chizuko brought colored paper from class. Father saved every scrap from the barbershop. Even Nurse Yasunaga gave Sadako the wrappings from packages of medicine. And Masahiro hung every one of the birds, as he had promised.
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As Sadako’s illness progresses, the cranes become the only thing keeping her positive and focused on recovery. The cranes have given Sadako a means of returning to the hope and optimism that defined her before her illness, and as she throws her heart and soul into the project of folding one thousand of them her family, friends, and caretakers find themselves pulled into the hope the cranes offer along with Sadako. Everyone helps Sadako as she strives to achieve her goal, and though the myth of the crane is just that—a myth—it bolsters everyone’s hope and courage and gives Sadako’s Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam c
Sadako was feeling especially tired one day when Nurse Yasunaga wheeled her out onto the porch for some sunshine. There Sadako saw Kenji for the first time. He was nine and small for his age.
“Hello!” she said. “I’m Sadako.”
Kenji answered in a low, soft voice. Soon the two were talking like old friends Kenji had been in the hospital for a long time, but he had few visitors. His parents were dead and he had been living with an aunt in a nearby town.
“She’s so old that she only comes to see me only once a week,” Kenji said. “I read most of the time.”
Sadako turned away at the sad look on Kenji’s face.
“It doesn’t really matter,” he went on, “because I’ll die soon. I have leukemia from the bomb.”
“You can’t have leukemia,” Sadako said. “You weren’t even born then.”
“That isn’t important,” Kenji said. “The poison was in my mother’s body and I got it from her.”
Sadako wanted to comfort him, but she didn’t know what to say. Then she remembered the cranes. “You can make paper cranes like I do,” she said, “so that a miracle can happen.”
“I know about the cranes, but it’s too late. Even the gods can’t help me now.”
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When Sadako meets Kenji, she is excited to have a friend around her age whom she can connect with. However, Kenji is morose and resigned, so beaten down by his illness that he almost seems to welcome death as a reprieve from the misery of his life. Sadako is taken aback both by the fact of Kenji’s illness and his fatalist attitude about death, and wants to teach him how to fold paper cranes so that he can draw the same hope and strength from them that she does. Kenji, though, believes he is beyond the cranes’ help—he does not Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perf
Chapter 7 Quotes
Masahiro dug into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of silver paper. “Here,” he said, giving it to [Sadako.] “Eiji said this is for another crane.” Sadako sniffed the paper. “It smells like candy,” she said. “I hope the gods like chocolate.”
[Sadako, Masahiro, and their mother] burst out laughing. It was the first time Sadako had laughed in days. It was a good sign. Perhaps the golden crane’s magic was beginning to work. She smoothed out the paper and folded a bird.
Five hundred and forty one…
But she was too tired to make more. Sadako stretched out on the bed and closed her eyes. As Mrs. Sasaki tiptoed out of the room, she whispered a poem she used to say when Sadako was little:
“O flock of heavenly cranes
Cover my child with your wings.”
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Sadako has been feeling terrible both physically and emotionally. As her illness makes her feel worse, those around her feel terrible, too, at having to witness her pain and the changes within the bright, beautiful girl they once knew. When Masahiro brings Sadako the chocolate wrapper to use as a crane—a contribution from her little brother Eiji—it lifts everyone’s spirits. The cranes are still bringing Sadako’s family and community together as they support her in her goals, though many days she is too weak to use the materials people bring her in service of her project. As the tired, overwhelmed Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Volup
Chapter 8 Quotes
Near the end of July it was warm and sunny. Sadako seemed to be getting better. “I’m over halfway to one thousand cranes,” she told Masahiro, “so something good is going to happen.” And it did. Her appetite came back and much of the pain went away. Dr. Numata was pleased with her progress and told Sadako she could go home for a visit. That night Sadako was so excited she couldn’t sleep. To keep the magic working she made more cranes.
Six hundred and twenty one.
Six hundred and twenty two…
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As the summer wraps up, the origami cranes’ power seems to finally be working. Sadako has achieved an important milestone and made it halfway to one thousand—always on the lookout for good luck signs, still, she sees this as an omen of good things to come. Whether it is a coincidence or not, her health begins to improve and her pain goes away, and so Sadako believes even more strongly in the cranes’ healing effect. As she prepares to go home for a visit, she continues folding more and more of them furiously, as fast as she can, hoping to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non.
Dr. Numata gave Sadako blood transfusions or shots almost every day. “I know it hurts,” he said, “but we must keep on trying.” Sadako nodded. She never complained about the shots and almost constant pain. A bigger pain was growing deep inside her. It was the fear of dying. She had to fight it as well as the disease. The golden crane helped. It reminded Sadako that there was always hope.
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Sadakos’ visit home left her even more tired and debilitated than she was months ago, during the rainy season, when her illness was at its worst. As she returns to the hospital her doctors and nurses double down on treatments, hoping that they can still make Sadako better. Just as Sadako fights on, so do her doctors. The pain of her illness, though, is not even the worst thing anymore—now, Sadako is worried that she will never recover and will die as a result of her leukemia. Even after witnessing Kenji’s death and hearing Nurse Yasunaga’s words about how Kenji Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectu
Chapter 9 Quotes
Already lights were dancing behind her eyes. Sadako slid a thin, trembling hand over to touch the golden crane. Life was slipping away from her, but the crane made Sadako feel stronger inside.
She looked at her flock hanging from the ceiling. As she watched, a light autumn breeze made the birds rustle and sway. They seemed to be alive and flying out through the open window.
How beautiful and free they were! Sadako sighed and closed her eyes.
She never woke up.
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As Sadako, weak and worn down by her illness, finally comes to accept her impending death and the freedom from pain and sickness it will off her, she looks up at the ceiling and considers her hundreds and hundreds of beautiful paper cranes. The cranes are free and seem to be alive and actually flying away. Sadako is about to “fly away” from her own pain and suffering, and the cranes, though they did not heal her illness, have managed to heal her spirit and help her to accept her own death. The golden crane especially remains Sadako’s warmest touchstone, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligen
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Paper Cranes Symbol Timeline in Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes
The timeline below shows where the symbol Paper Cranes appears in Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 5: The Golden Crane
...to get well, and she then begins demonstrating the steps to building an origami paper crane as she makes one out of golden paper. When Sadako asks how the bird could...
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...to her friend for bringing her a good luck charm. Sadako takes the first golden crane into her hand and feels a funny feeling come over her. When Chizuko leaves, Sadako...
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That evening, when Masahiro brings Sadako her homework from school, he offers to string the cranes from the ceiling so that she has room to keep making more and more. When...
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...the hospital with Mitsue and Eiji in tow. The two young children like Chizuko’s golden crane the best, but Sadako’s mother picks one folded from green paper out as her favorite—she...
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Chapter 6: Kenji
...and family start saving paper for her to use to make the good luck origami cranes. Chizuko brings Sadako paper from school, her father saves every scrap he can from his...
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...him. Sadako doesn’t know what to say to comfort Kenji, but soon thinks of the cranes, and tells Kenji that he can start folding with her if he likes. Kenji insists...
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...and have no family. She thinks of how brave Kenji is, and makes a big crane for him out of her prettiest paper. She brings it across the hall to him,...
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...Yasunaga assures Sadako that she won’t. Nurse Yasunaga urges Sadako to build one more paper crane before bed, and promises her that once she makes it to one thousand cranes she...
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Chapter 7: Hundreds of Wishes
...a present from Eiji—a crumpled piece of silver paper to be used to build a crane. Sadako smells the paper and finds that it is a chocolate wrapper—she and her brother...
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Chapter 8: Last Days
...sunny, and Sadako is feeling a little bit better. She is halfway to one thousand cranes, and she feels that something good is about to happen. Soon, her appetite comes back,...
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...earth. The Sasakis have cleaned the house and filled it with fresh flowers and Sadako’s cranes, and Sadako’s parents are preparing delicious holiday food. As Sadako watches her mother place a...
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...as hard as she has to fight her disease, and often looks to the golden crane for comfort and hope.
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...her chair in pain. That night, after Sadako’s family leaves, she folds just one paper crane before falling asleep—it is the last one she will ever make.
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Chapter 9: Racing With The Wind
...has brought her mother a great deal of grief. Sadako tries to fold some more cranes, but her fingers are too weak and clumsy. Dr. Numata comes into the room and...
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...She smiles at them, and sees lights dancing behind her eyes. Sadako holds the golden crane as she feels life slipping away from her. She looks up at her flock hanging...
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Epilogue
After Sadako’s death in October of 1955, her classmates at school folded the remaining 356 cranes needed to reach one thousand. After her funeral, her class collected Sadako’s letters and journals...
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