In Japan, the crane is considered a mythical or holy creature that could live 1,000 years. It is said that if you, or a group, make 1,000 origami cranes in one year, you get to make a wish. You can also make a senbazuru, which is a set of cranes aligned and joined on a thread.
These cranes can be gifted for multiple occasions. They could wish for a recovery for someone seriously ill, either directly or to a shrine. They can also be given to sports teams to wish luck on victories.
The idea of me folding cranes was on Valentine’s Day. My friends and I wanted to do a Secret Santa type of event and I thought paper cranes would be a cute gift and bought some paper at Daiso Japan.
They didn’t look good, considering it’s been a long time since I’ve done origami. I had to find a tutorial and figure out how to make it. However, my friend seemed to like it so I considered it a win.
After that, I thought it would be fun to continue doing it. I bought more origami paper from Daiso and started doing it in my free time. My folding time was faster than when I began so it made things quicker.
The origami made me feel a bit nostalgic. The last time I decided to make a large number of cranes was in middle school, for a school project. It was 100 cranes instead of 1000, but it was still a lot of effort for middle school me.
At the time, I didn’t have much thought about it except for getting a good grade. Things are a bit different now. I have to put more effort into this project if I want to make it to 1,000.
There isn’t anything I want to wish for in particular or at least one specific thing I’ve decided. There are a lot of things I can use it on, whether it be career-wise or academic-wise.
I’m not even sure if I can make it to 1,000 cranes. While it does seem cool, my attention isn’t the best for this type of thing. The money aspect in the long run is also a problem. However, I won’t know if I don’t try. Let’s just see where this journey takes me.
What would you wish for? Let us know at @HerCampusSJSU