I saw this in the Daily Yomiuri today:
Sadako statue in Seattle vandalized
Kiyoshi Morita / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
The statue of Sadako Sasaki, who died of leukemia aged 12 after being irradiated during the Hiroshima atomic bombing, in the Peace Park in Seattle was vandalized late last year.
The incident occurred after a debate had arisen over the way the completely resembled Enola Gay, a B-29 bomber that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima was being displayed. Three days later, a different aircraft dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki.
Sadako is known worldwide as a symbol of people's aspirations for peace. She also was the model for the Children's Peace Monument in the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima.
Sadako was 2 when she was irradiated. She believed she could overcome her illness by folding 1,000 paper cranes. She devoted her life to making cranes from medicine wrapping papers, but died after folding 644 cranes.
The late U.S. sculptor Floyd Schmoe, who was a peace activist and an honorary citizen of Hiroshima, worked to establish the Peace Park in 1990.
The right arm was cut off the bronze statue, and the right leg also was damaged after somebody tried to cut it off with a saw.
A witness said a white man was responsible for the damages.
Although the motive for the vandalism is unknown, some people believe the incident was linked to protests made in December, by Japanese atomic-bomb victims who expressed opposition at such places as the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum to the way the Enola Gay was being exhibited.
A Japanese woman living in the city is calling for donations to repair the statue, and about 2,000 dollars has been donated by local citizens.
However, a further 3,000 dollars is needed to repair the statue.
Michiko Pumpian, 48, who promotes peace by keeping the paper-crane movement alive, has appealed for money over the Internet.
"I'd like children of the world to know that even a mere 1 dollars or 100 yen per person would mount up and become a strong force," she said.
Pumpian hopes to have the statue repaired by Aug. 6, the anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, and to offer paper cranes sent to her by well-wishers to the statue.
For more information on how to send in donations and paper cranes, e-mail [email protected]
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