A Thousand Paper Cranes and Donation Sent from American Followers to Four Missionary Areas Affected by the Earthquake/Tsunami
Last December, a thousand paper cranes made by American followers and a donation in the amount of 400,000 yen were sent from the Seicho-No-Ie United States Missionary Headquarters to the missionary areas struck by the Great East Japan Earthquake: Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima and Ibaraki Missionary Areas.
Right after the disaster the followers in the U.S.A. made a suggestion to make paper cranes out of the wish to encourage the victims of the earthquake/tsunami. In response to this, the “origami crane project” was started.
Followers bought a piece of “origami” (folding paper) for one dollar each at missionary centers across the U.S.A. and made a crane. By the beginning of December, 4,000 paper cranes were sent to the U.S. Missionary Headquarters. Staffers and members separated them into four strands and sent them to the four missionary areas in Japan in mid-December together with a relief fund (100,000 yen per missionary area).
At the Fukushima Missionary Area, the paper cranes were shown at an Elementary, Junior and Senior High School Students Joint One-Day Truth Realization Seminar held on December 23. The attendees and their parents were deeply moved.
A then sixth-grade elementary school student (12 years of age), Yukie Hisa of Iwaki City sent a thank-you note: “I felt so lost due to the stress from the disaster and I was afraid that I will become a completely different person than before. What saved me was Seicho-No-Ie. In the year 2012, I want to live happily and cheerfully.” Other Missionary Areas also sent words of appreciation, including “We received your warm thoughts and love”; and “We will hang the paper cranes at the Missionary Center. They will be a source of strength for our recovery.” American followers who sent them expressed a renewed sense of joy, saying, “I was made to realize the wonderfulness of Seicho-No-Ie again and feel moved.”
Rev. Yoshiko Teshigawara, Bishop of Seicho-No-Ie United States Missionary Headquarters, remarked, “The followers made the paper cranes with sincere prayers for the peaceful repose of the victims and recovery of the affected people. The paper cranes were bundled into four strands and traveled over the Pacific to Japan. We are the ones who feel encouraged by those in the affected areas who rejoiced in receiving the American followers’ kindness and accepted our gift as a source of strength for recovery. We are grateful.”