[Current Date] Prepared For: General Audience / Cultural Studies Review Subject: Analysis of the "Sadako Story," the 1989 film Senba zuru , and the Thousand Cranes (Senbazuru) tradition.

At the heart of Sadako’s journey is the Japanese legend of . Ancient tradition holds that anyone who folds one thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by the gods. For Sadako, a victim of "A-bomb disease" (leukemia) a decade after the Hiroshima bombing, that wish was simple: she wanted to live.

Sadako Sasaki was born on January 7, 1943, in Hiroshima, Japan. She was a lively, athletic child, known for her speed—often called the fastest runner in her class. Her life, however, was defined by a single flash of light.