Dear Participant in the Million Crane Project,

It has been a year since the disaster in the Tohoku area.  It has also been a year since the Million Crane project started in an effort to help those affected through our own means.  Our project consisted of hundreds of collaborators from around the world, all of whom were necessary for our achievements, and as the organizers of this group effort, we cannot thank you enough for making it possible to bring this project to completion.

Last March, fewer than ten undergraduate students started the Million Crane Project.  At the beginning we had no funding, no experience, and no guidance, and in addition to making many mistakes were unable to achieve all of our goals.  We originally planned to make the cranes into a permanent art exhibit to be displayed at an art museum, but despite extensive contact with several museums we were unable to arrange an exhibit.  Despite the difficulties we faced, we still collected 215,191 cranes from around the world.  Our project called the attention of several news websites, and NHK came to do two live broadcasts.  With the help of Origami for Japan and DHL, all of the cranes were sent to Japan and were displayed at the Sendai Tanabata festival in August. With the departure of the cranes from the U.S., the Million Crane Project agreed to delegate the rights and responsibility to maintain the cranes to Origami for Japan.  Thanks to Origami for Japan, the cranes all found meaningful places for display in public areas throughout Sendai, such as in the Sendai city hall, Miyashin Bank, and various local shops.  When storage became an issue, the owners of these venues respectfully removed the cranes, but the thoughts of the folders of the cranes surely reached those in Tohoku, and throughout all of Japan.

In our inexperience and disorganization last year, we were unable to do many important things.  Most crucial of these was our inability to convey the conclusion of our project, and our thanks to all those who helped us.  All of us are students and we worked until the day we left campus, but summer engagements prevented us from working on the Million Crane Project through the summer.  This, however, does not excuse us from not sending out a notifying email to everyone.  We sincerely apologize, and despite the delay, would like to thank you for your participation in this project and for making it possible to convey our support to the people in Japan.   There are still many other participants who we must thank that we were unable to contact, and we would greatly appreciate if you could forward this message to all those involved.  Please also check our photoblog, http://cranes4japan.tumblr.com/ managed by Peter Moore for photos of the cranes before they were sent to Japan.

Thank you once again, and we hope everyone will continue to support the rebuilding of the Tohoku region.

Princeton Japanese Student Association
-Asumi Shibata
-Shiro Kuriwaki
-Jan Cash
-Takumi Murayama
-Vincent Castaneda
-Yuta Shinozaki

ミリオンクレーンプロジェクト参加者　様

東 北 大震災の発生から１年が経ちました。そして、震災の影響を受けた方々の支援を目的 としたミリオンクレーンプロジェクトの立ち上げからも１年が経とうとしています。当プロジェクトは、何百人 もの協賛者の方々の力があって初めてなりたった取り組みでした。改めて、このプロジェクトを完結にまで率い て頂いた皆様に厚くお礼申し上げます。

昨年の３ 月、 １０人足らずの学部生がミリオンクレーンプロジェクトを立ち上げました。プロ ジェクト初期、我々には 資金 も、経験も、頼る存在もなく、結果的に多くの失敗を重ねただけでなく、全ての目標を 達成できませんでした。我々の当初の目 標は折り鶴を美術館の常設展示にすることでした。し かし、多数の美術館とのコンタクトにも関わらず、展示の設置までには至りませんでした。困難が 多々ある中、世界中から２１５、５１９羽の折り鶴が集まりました。当プロジェクトは幾つかのメディアの取材を受け、NHKに生中継を通して２回取り上げて頂きました。Origami for Japan およびDHL社 の助けを受けて、全ての折り鶴は日本へ送られ、８月の仙台七夕祭にて展示されました。また、折り鶴がアメリ カ を離れるのをもって、ミリオンクレーンプロジェクトは、折り鶴の管理の権利と責任を、Origami for Japan に委託することを合意しました。Origami for Japan の尽力のおかげで、日本では、折り鶴は仙台市役所、宮城 第一信用金庫、各種の販売店など様々な施設で展示されています。 折り鶴の適切な保管が困難になったとき、各展示先の所有者が責任を持って折り鶴を展示から外しましたが、折 り鶴を折った方々の思いは東北、そして日本に、確かに届きました。

昨年、 我々は 経験不足と運営の乱れにより、多くの重要なことができずにいました。 この中でも決定的だったのが、 プロジェクト完結までの推移を全参 加者と共有し、協力者の方々へのお礼を今までできなかったことです。 我々は皆学生で、キャンパスを発つ日まで作業を続けましたが、その後は各自の夏の活動によってミ リオンクレーンプロジェクトの運営の継 続が 妨げられました。但し、これらの理 由は、我々がプロジェクトの推移を報告するのにこれだけの時間がかかったことを正当化するものには到底なり得ません。まだコンタクトがで きていない協力者の方々もいると思われますので、当プロジェクトに関わった方をご存知でしたら、このメッ セージを転送していただければ幸甚です。アメリカを発つ前の折り鶴の写真については、Peter Moore 氏のブログをご覧ください。 http://cranes4japan.tumblr.com/

この場を借り て深く謝罪し、そして、 大変遅れてではありますが、改めて日本の方々への支援を可能にした皆様へのお 礼を申し上げます。

岸本ジェン

 

The Million Crane Project is a student-driven, nation-wide effort to raise awareness in America, and show America’s support for Japan in the wake of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake that hit Japan on March 11. We have united 133 schools, universities and other organizations in a massive crane-folding endeavor, and more schools are still joining everyday.

Our primary goal is to collect one million paper cranes by May 11, exactly two months after the disaster. The cranes will then be used to create a piece of memorial art. We are assembling a team of artists to work on this artwork. Makoto Fujimura, an artist based in New York, has already pledged to help us. We want the resulting artwork to be not only a testament to the way students from all across the country have joined efforts to reach out to another nation, but also a symbol of all the support and hope one country can offer to another. We also hope that this message will transcend America and Japan, and become a symbol of greater international hope.

The idea of folding a million cranes came from the Japanese legend of the senbazuru (thousand cranes) made famous by the story of Sadako. According to this legend, folding a thousand paper crans can grant a wish, usually associated with good health and good fortune.

The ultimate goal of our project is generate enough publicity to serve as a platform for fundraisers for those affected by the earthquake. Currently, many of the participating groups are running fundraisers in conjunction with the million crane project.

For any groups interested in participating, please take a look at the instructions for sending in cranes at the bottom of this email, and join our Facebook group linked below.  For questions or requests for assistance running fundraisers, please contact millioncraneproject@gmail.com with details about your organization. The last day to send in cranes is May 11th, 2011, however, we encourage groups to send already made cranes on April 11th for easier counting and end any cranes made after on May 11th.

Please advertise this to anybody who might be interested!  The more people we have, the more publicity we can get, and the more we can help Japan!

 

Who: Everybody
When: March 11 – May 11
Where: Everywhere
What: Fold paper cranes, send them in, raise funds
Why: To raise awareness and fundraise for those affected by the earthquake