Crane (tsuru) and the thousand paper cranes

In Japan the crane (tsuru) is an emblem of long life. A thousand folded paper cranes (senbazuru) are a wish for a sick person to recover, and since Sadako Sasaki, who folded them in Hiroshima in 1955, a wish for peace.

Japanese symbols. Also called japanese crane, origami crane meaning, paper crane, senbazuru, thousand cranes, tsuru.

Meaning

Henri Joly’s Legend in Japanese Art (1908) lists the crane as an emblem of longevity, along with the deer and the tortoise (the stork sometimes takes its place), and as an attribute of Seiōbo, Jurōjin and Fukurokuju. A Japanese saying, quoted by the Embassy of Japan in Singapore, runs “the crane lives 1,000 years, the turtle 10,000”. Joly also lists “the thousand cranes” (senbazuru) among the numbered groups found in Japanese art. The folded paper crane comes from origami, the City of Hiroshima says, and is known around the world today as a symbol of peace.

Origin and history

The belief behind the thousand cranes is recorded by Hiroshima’s Chugoku Shimbun: “If you wish upon one thousand paper cranes for a sick person, the gods will grant the wish and make the sick person healthy again.” Sadako Sasaki folded them for that reason. The City of Hiroshima tells her story: she was two when the atomic bomb fell on the city and seemed unhurt, but in 1954, in the sixth grade of elementary school, she fell ill, and in February 1955 she was found to have leukaemia. She kept folding cranes, believing they would help her recover, and died on 25 October 1955 after eight months of illness.

The Children’s Peace Monument

Sadako’s death started a campaign for a monument to pray for world peace and for the many children the bomb killed. The Children’s Peace Monument in Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park was built with money given from all over Japan. As her story spread, the city says, cranes came with it: about 10 million paper cranes are offered at the monument every year, and the city places cranes sent by post on the senders’ behalf.

The crane and the tortoise

Crane and tortoise go together as the two emblems of long life. Joly notes that the old couple Jō and Uba, the spirits of the pines, are usually shown with both. On a Daruma doll doll, the Embassy of Japan in Singapore points out, the eyebrows are drawn as cranes and the nose and moustache as turtles.

The crane in Chinese tradition

Some of Japan’s emblems of long life are of Chinese origin, Joly notes. For the crane of the Daoist immortals in China, see crane.

Sources

Henri L. Joly, Legend in Japanese Art (1908), Henri L. Joly, Legend in Japanese Art: A Description of Historical Episodes, Legendary Characters, Folk-lore, Myths, Religious Symbolism Illustrated in the Arts of Old Japan, London: John Lane, 1908, John Lane (Internet Archive, University of Toronto copy), index of subjects (“Crane”, “Longevity”); nos. 379 (“Jo and Uba”) and 663 (“Numbers”)
City of Hiroshima, Paper Cranes and Children’s Peace Monument, City of Hiroshima (Peace Promotion Division), “Paper Cranes and Children’s Peace Monument”, City of Hiroshima, page text
Hiroshima Peace Media Center, Folded paper cranes presented at the Children’s Peace Monument, “Folded paper cranes presented at the Children’s Peace Monument”, Hiroshima Peace Media Center (Chugoku Shimbun), 1997, Chugoku Shimbun (Hiroshima Peace Media Center), article text
Embassy of Japan in Singapore, Have you heard of the lucky daruma?, Japan Creative Centre, Embassy of Japan in Singapore, E-Magazine, April 2023: daruma, Embassy of Japan in Singapore, first paragraph

The same shape elsewhere

Browse symbols formed from triangles.

Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 10, 2026. How we research

Added October 10, 2026.

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