Senbazuru is Japanese for 1,000 paper cranes that are strung together. This is a custom in Japan that holds great significance. It is said that folding 1,000 cranes will make a wish come true. Often a senbazuru is made for someone who is very ill or suffering to make them well again. Senbazuru is also made to bring good fortune to the recipient. Big Bear community members and Big Bear Middle School students, along with art teacher Julia Seaman, have helped Victoria Nagata complete 1,000 paper cranes for Japan. Victoria, whose husband is from Japan, created this project, titled Operation Senbazura of Hope – 1000 Cranes for Japan, as a way to bring hope and prayers to those in Japan whose lives have been devastated by the earthquakes and tsunami. The planned destination for the senbazuru and messages will be the survivors of the town of Otsuchi. Otsuchi was a community of about 15,000 residents but only about 5,000 survived the tsunami and the town was completely destroyed.
