After Japan Earthquake, Americans Show Their Support With Facebook Paper Crane Campaign

Following the massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan, which have killed hundreds and devastated coastal areas, Americans are showing their support with an online paper crane campaign.

Organized by DoSomething.org, the "Paper Cranes for Japan" Facebook page asks young people to make a paper crane, snap a photograph of it and upload it to the page.

DoSomething.org is hoping to see 100,000 crane photos uploaded.

According to the organization,

Cranes are sacred creatures in Japanese culture. According to ancient legend, anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish -- like long life or recovery from illness -- by a crane. DoSomething.org aims to collect 100,000 photos of origami cranes from young people to represent 100 wishes for relief and healing to all who affected by this tragic natural disaster.

Comments

[JLRoberson]

11:09 PM on 03/16/2011

Sorry to be a party pooper: This helps no one and does nothing.

[oIllusion]

01:22 PM on 03/16/2011

Here is a story that you might like...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadako_Sasaki

[3echo9]

12:08 PM on 03/16/2011

“100,000 photos of origami cranes”...This is just silly. It’ll easily take twice that number just to stabilize the nuclear reactors

[RadGash]

12:11 PM on 03/14/2011

Paper cranes? PAPER F*NG CRANES?! These people DO NOT need paper F*NG CRANES!

[jaredbrain]

02:12 PM on 03/17/2011

it's a gesture on the internet. maybe people will see that or contribute to it and then donate to a direct cause...

[caveman1313]

03:34 AM on 03/14/2011

uh, if no one else is going to say it i will,

those cranes in the photo are not very good.

[caveman1313]

03:34 AM on 03/14/2011

can i send a photo of a virtual paper crane i made? kind of a virtual virtual crane?

if someone was good with ASCII art they could create ASCII cranes

､.　　_ _　　.i　　,.
　 ヽ`/／|　/i.／/
　　 ヽ. '| ﾄ.／　/
　　　　i∧/　 /
　 　 　 ￣ ￣

[Michael Mayer]

02:35 AM on 03/14/2011

haha people love to do the least amount possible to feel like they're helping

[Osapient1]

01:37 AM on 03/13/2011

Oh dear god...

[hugatree]

11:54 PM on 03/12/2011

22 years ago I was a victim of a natural disaster. While I greatly appreciated the help that poured into my city that helped me live while rebuilding my home, it was an outpouring of letters, postcards, and good wishes from people all over the country that gave me the personal strength to keep going. When we are at our darkest hour, the smallest kindness can do a great deal in lifting our spirits.

[syllable]

11:06 PM on 03/13/2011

I appreciate your words drawn from experience. Thank you.

[barracks9]

09:33 PM on 03/12/2011

On the surface, this might seem shallow and pathetic, but I personally thinks it's terrific.

Children - like the rest of us - are often inundated with media images that are difficult to process or fathom. Without experience to draw on, kids will often internalize the distress they see on the faces of victims of natural disaster. This has happened repeatedly over recent years - Katrina, the Haiti earthquake.

Doing SOMEthing - like making cranes - is a great way to focus that attention to the issue into something constructive, regardless of how little it helps the victims.

Moreover, there's a HUGE opportunity for parents and teachers to introduce young kids to a culture with which they may not be familiar. Using the project of making cranes, they could also read the children's book "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes", to put it even more into context.

For those who can't give money - especially the kids about whom this acticle is actually written - I believe this is a wonderful thing to do..

[Tulka2]

10:38 PM on 03/12/2011

When you put it like that.... ;)

[syllable]

11:13 PM on 03/13/2011

I agree. Creativity and learning made relevant by the moment may offer healing and understanding.

[Brenda Starr]

05:15 PM on 03/12/2011

Oh for gosh sake, Facebook has become sooo lame. Paper birds. Yeah, that works.

[jambi77]

12:19 AM on 03/13/2011

"""Cranes"""" are sacred creatures in Japanese culture. According to ancient legend, anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish -- like long life or recovery from illness -- by a crane. DoSomething.org aims to collect 100,000 photos of origami cranes from young people to represent 100 wishes for relief and healing to all who affected by this tragic natural disaster.

get it now

[Osapient1]

01:36 AM on 03/13/2011

No

[Osapient1]

01:39 AM on 03/13/2011

Paper cranes are to Tsunami relief like President Obama is to leadership skills...

[KDMac]

02:02 PM on 03/18/2011

OT: just wanted to say I love your screenname and avatar. I was a Brenda Starr fan for years. My parents had glasses that had comics printed on them, and my favorite one was the Brenda Starr glass. My friend, however, was NOT ALLOWED to drink out of the Brenda Starr glass or read the comic, because her parents didn't like the comic. I never got that, guess independent women were somehow offensive? (And no, they weren't overtly religious.)

Anyway, thanks for the memory : D

[kellyohl]

03:03 PM on 03/12/2011

-Waits for the slacktivism comments-

[Eyeshaveit]

02:28 PM on 03/12/2011

Give money if you can, but even a simple gesture of support, shown by participation in this program, helps to boost morale and is a signal of the concern of others and helps to reinforce the notion of the brotherhood of man. The human "touch" can be pretty powerful.

[barracks9]

09:52 PM on 03/12/2011

Eyes, that's the point. The article is about an activity for kids - not disaffected, out-of-work 20-somethings who are pissed they can't make a living blogging.

When did reaching out to other humans in need become gauche?

[EmilyU]

01:27 PM on 03/12/2011

Instead of making cranes, how about donating to one of the Red Cross organizations, Salvation Army, GlobalGiving.org? Money will do a lot more than paper cranes. Even $10 helps and some places have it set up so you can donate by texting from your phone and it shows on your phone bill.

[kellyohl]

03:04 PM on 03/12/2011

You realize some of these are kids who don't have their own money to donate, but this gives them the power to do something.

Even if it's showing support.

[1moreastronaut]

02:11 AM on 03/14/2011

Why not have them sell the cranes to locals for a nominal fee ($5?) with the promise that the money will go to an organization which will provide aid to Japan?

[The Pragmatist]

09:07 PM on 04/13/2011

I agree with EmilyU. I can understand when kid make paper crane, but not in respect to the older age group (young adults/adults). Is it really that hard for someone to just donate $10 to charity instead of using the same amount to buy origami paper?

[localnotail]

10:49 AM on 03/12/2011

Shame so many US Facebook users are showing true ignorance by claiming the Japanese earthquake and tsunami is payback for Pearl Harbour: maybe they forgot their country killed 200,000 people (mostly civilians) in Hiroshima & Nagasaki? (vs