Emperor Akihito’s words following the 2011 earthquake in Japan sent echoes across the world. In a rare televised address, he spoke to his people and asked them to never give up hope, to care for each other, and to live strong for tomorrow. It is in moments like these that voices of hope need to be heard, that messages of compassion need to be relayed. It is for this reason that The Istanbul Review created the “One-Thousand Cranes” campaign.

There is a tradition in Japan that says one-thousand folded cranes gives the folders one wish. With the help of the Turkish NGO Genc Hayat Foundation and hundreds of contributors from across the world, over 3000 cranes were folded in a show of support for Japan.

The folded cranes, each adorned with the name and country of the folder, were delivered to the Sei-Urusura Gakuen Elementary school in Sendai where they were given out to the children. It was our hope that when the children received the paper cranes and saw the names and countries of their folders on their wings, they would know that the world cares for their plight and that we all wish them a speedy recovery.

The Istanbul Review would like to thank everyone who gave so generously of their time to make this project a reality and especially Hiroshi Takeda who volunteered to carry the cranes from Tokyo into the earthquake zone.

Sincerely,

The Istanbul Review