Many teachers have been excited to see that the young people involved in the project are capable of caring about issues and about people who are not directly connected to them. Some teachers comment that they are astounded at the values and compassion of their students and at how much they want to find ways of putting these into practice to make a statement about what they believe is right

Each school involved receives a Kit at the start of the project, which includes the school’s allotment of origami paper. In 2008 the project trialled a mixture of original paper and recycled paper to reduce the project’s carbon footprint.  The quality of the recycled paper is being addressed for this year’s project and we hope to include recycled origami paper of a more satisfactory quality. The kit also includes crane folding instructions (also available here), target sheets, crane posters, relevant lessons from the Sasakawa “Relief Kits: Intro pack”, relevant articles about Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In addition, co-ordinating teachers from each cluster receive a template Letter to the Mayor of Hiroshima, in Japanese and English, for adaptation and sending with the cranes, messages and photos etc to Japan, and crane packing suggestions. If schools do choose to send the cranes to Japan, the cost of postage is also covered by Sasakawa.

Most schools include a discussion of the Sadako story in their build up to completion of the project. Sadako Sasaki was a young girl in Hiroshima at the time of the bombing, who wrote this short poem on a folded paper crane: “I will write peace on your wings and you will fly all over the world.” Sadako died of leukaemia at age 12. For more detailed information about Sadako Sasaki click here.

Several teachers arrange for their Japanese national students to talk to primary/intermediate schools with whom they are clustered. Some teachers report that this is one of the most significant features of the project.


Schools which complete the project are awarded framed certificates, celebrating their achievement.

In the four previous years (2003, 2004, 2006, 2008), over 200 schools across New Zealand have completed the project, working either independently or in clusters of two to sometimes seven schools. Though many participants are students of Japanese, the project also appeals across the curriculum to social studies, religious studies, art, drama and music students. Schools have interpreted the broad objectives of Cranes for Peace in highly creative and varied ways.

In 2004 the Mana College music department and Tawa College Japanese department formed a cluster that composed and performed a piece of music with spoken words portraying the horrors of the bombing. Click here to see the words of the song, and here for the speech that preceded every performance of the song.
In 2006, one school took their folded cranes to Starship Hospital, along with origami paper and instructions, to offer to the hospital education programme.
In 2008 Rongotai College held a special assembly opened by a “Prayer for Peace” by the Principal and students outlined the history of Hiroshima, cranes and peace. The school published a photo of some students with the 1000 folded cranes in the school’s newsletter.
In 2008 the Dunedin Art Museum also had a peace display and folded 1000 cranes for peace.

Hiroshima Day, 6 August, serves as the focal point for activities for many schools, and is also the day on which media coverage of the event is greatest. In 2004, Mana College students were interviewed on National Radio, and their song played; Mana and Tawa College teachers were interviewed on Morning Report; Linda Clarke interviewed David Krieger, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation in San Diego, for half an hour in her Nine to Noon show, and many local events were covered by local print media. As they had been in 2003, Dunedin schools were featured on Dunedin television. In 2006, National Radio's Jim Mora interviewed Peter Cozens, Director of the Centre for Strategic Studies at Victoria University, about the events surrounding Hiroshima Day. In 2008 Birkenhead College visited the Consulate General of Japan and had a presentation on the Sadako story and Hiroshima. Click here for a sample of photos, media reports and school reports of events.