Children's Peace Monument
The Children's Peace Monument in Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park remembers Sadako Sasaki and all the children who died because of the atomic bomb. Completed in 1958 with money from children in more than 3,000 schools, it is a 9 m bronze topped by a girl holding a crane. Anyone may leave paper cranes in the booths around it.
The Children’s Peace Monument is a 9 m bronze in Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park, about 175 m from the Atomic Bomb Dome. It remembers the children who died because of the atomic bombing of 6 August 1945, and it began with one of them, Sadako Sasaki, who died of leukaemia in 1955 at the age of 12. A girl stands on top, holding up a crane. Around the base are glass booths filled with strings of paper cranes, about 10 million a year, and anyone may add their own.
How the monument was built
After Sadako’s death in October 1955, her classmates wanted to remember her. According to the museum’s Kids Peace Station, they first thought of a gravestone, then proposed a monument in the park to all the children killed by the bomb. Their appeal for money spread across Japan. The museum’s monument guide says children in more than 3,100 schools in Japan and nine other countries gave money; the Kids Peace Station puts it at more than 3,000.
The monument was completed on 5 May 1958, Children’s Day in Japan. The sculptor was Kazuo Kikuchi. The girl on top holds a golden crane above her head.
The monument’s original bell, and the golden crane given by the physicist Hideki Yukawa, are now in the lobby of the Peace Memorial Museum East Building.
The inscription
On the stone at the base, in the official English translation:
“This is our cry. This is our prayer. For building peace in this world.”
Offering paper cranes
Folding a crane and leaving it here is the most common thing visitors do at the monument. The city says everyone is free to make offerings. Cranes go in the booths around the base, which have hooks at the top for hanging strings.
Crane offering rules (checked October 2026)
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Who can offer | Anyone, free |
| Offering hours | 8:45 to 17:00 (city FAQ, updated July 2025) |
| On 6 August | 6:00 to 20:00 |
| At night | Booth curtains close |
| String size | Up to 150 cm long and 25 cm wide |
| Booth size | About 1 m wide, 2 m deep and 2 m tall |
| Paper | Any paper and colour; adverts and wrapping paper are fine |
| More than 10,000 cranes | Contact the city in advance |
An older version of the city’s FAQ gave the hours as 8:30 to 17:00; the July 2025 version says 8:45, so we use that.
A few practical points. Use sturdy thread and tie the ends well, so cranes do not drop off. One crane or a short string is as welcome as a full thousand. If you bring a large framed or panel work, keep it to a size that fits the booths. And leave the cranes in the booths: please do not tie them to trees or the monument itself, and do not take cranes others have left.
Sending cranes by post
If you cannot come to Hiroshima, the city will place your cranes at the monument for you. You pay the postage, and you cannot choose the day they are offered.
Address, as given by the City of Hiroshima:
Peace Promotion Division, International Peace Promotion Department, Citizens Affairs Bureau, City of Hiroshima, c/o Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, 1-5 Nakajima-cho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima City, Japan 730-0811
You can include a Paper Crane Message Card with your name or group and a message; the city posts these messages on its website. For questions, the Peace Promotion Division’s phone number is +81 82-242-7831.
What happens to the cranes
About 10 million cranes are offered every year, roughly 10 tonnes by the city’s estimate. When the booths fill, the city takes the older strings out and stores them.
Visiting
The monument stands north of the Cenotaph and the Flame of Peace and south of the Peace Bell. From the Dome it is a three-minute walk across Motoyasu Bridge or Aioi Bridge. The free English volunteer tours of the park’s monuments run at 10:45 and 14:00, except from July to September.
If a school group is gathered at the monument to offer its cranes, wait at the side until they finish. It is fine to take photographs of the monument and the booths.
On 6 August the booths open early, at 6:00, and the park is very busy; see Hiroshima Day for that day’s arrangements.
