Global Action for a World Without Nuclear Weapons Marks 79 Years Since Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombings

Fourth annual #CranesForOurFuture Campaign takes flight with entertainers, prominent organizations, and public figures sharing paper cranes on social media.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- People around the world–from artists and cultural icons to Nobel laureates, members of Congress, and global leaders and organizations–are marking 79 years since the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings by taking part in #CranesforOurFuture, the largest digital demonstration of support for a world without nuclear weapons.

To participate in the campaign between August 6 and 9, the dates of the 1945 atomic bombings of Japan, people fold and share paper cranes on social media with a message about why moving closer to a world without nuclear weapons is important to them. Now in its fourth year, #CranesForOurFuture reaches and inspires millions.

Below is a partial list of notable participants as of Friday morning, August 9. The complete, updated list is available here.

• Artists and cultural icons like Yoko Ono, George Takei, Ted Turner, the Indigo Girls, and Graham Nash.
• Global security leaders, including Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Mariano Grossi, former Vice President of Egypt Mohamed ElBaradei, former NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller, U.N. General Assembly President Dennis Francis, U.N. Under-Secretary General Izumi Nakamitsu, and former Vice-President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini.
• Current and former U.S. officials, including U.S. Representatives John Garamendi, Robin Kelly, Jim McGovern, Eleanor Holmes Norton and Dina Titus, former U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes, U.S. Ambassador Laura Holgate, former U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest J. Moniz, former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn, former Governor of California Jerry Brown, and the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.
• Cranes Collection creators and fashion designers Isla Read, Gigi Murakami, Dauphinette, Claire Griffith, Zero Waste Daniel, Jordy Arthur, Christopher Jay Heller, and Laurén Bienvenue.
• Scores of organizations and institutions, including the U.N. Office of Disarmament Affairs, Nobel Peace-prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Union of Concerned Scientists, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Arms Control Association, United Nations Foundation, Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Korematsu Institute, International Crane Foundation, and the Friends Committee on National Legislation.

This year, as part of #CranesForOurFuture, a diverse group of cutting-edge fashion designers and artists created custom designs inspired by the origami crane—renewing its cultural resonance as a symbol of hope and peace. The Cranes Collection represents humanity's capacity to craft something beautiful and give people an opportunity to live and wear their values.

In an article in Sourcing Journal about the campaign's fashion initiative, designer Olivia Cheng, whose Dauphinette-brand designs have graced runways during New York's famed Fashion Week, talked about creating a dress made with paper cranes. "The mission behind #CranesForOurFuture is something that really resonated with me on a personal level," she said.

#CranesForOurFuture was established by the Hiroshima Prefecture, Nagasaki Prefecture, the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), and Hiroshima Organization for Global Peace. The effort is joined by a broad coalition of institutions and public figures committed to a safer future for all, with support and participation growing each year. Hidehiko Yuzaki, the Governor of Hiroshima Prefecture and President of Hiroshima Organization for Global Peace (HOPe) shared a call for peace and a world without nuclear weapons in a recent op-ed in the Seattle Times.

In 2023, #CranesForOurFuture reached millions online and off. This year, a new nuclear arms race is underway, wars are raging in two regions with nuclear weapons, and technology is adding risks to an already-fragile system that's based on the threat of mass destruction. That leaves the world just one mistake, miscalculation, or blunder away from a disaster.

In addition to online activism, local organizations are also holding more than 45 in-person events around the country calling for a world free from the threat of nuclear weapons.

"As we mark the anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the world faces the biggest risk of nuclear conflict since the Cold War," said former U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest J. Moniz, who is co-chair and CEO of NTI. "It doesn't need to be this way. A single girl inspired a global movement with her story and the symbol of the paper crane. And when the last nuclear arms race was spinning out of control, people joined forces to call for a safer world, leading to the elimination of 80 percent of global nuclear arsenals. We can finish the job."

The paper crane is a universal symbol of peace which first gained global attention thanks to a young girl named Sadako Sasaki. Sadako was just two years old when she survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, only to succumb to the long-term effects of radiation poisoning a decade later. Guided by a tradition dating back centuries in Japan, Sadako folded 1,000 paper cranes in the hope that her wish to live would be granted. While Sadako did not survive, her legacy of paper cranes did, inspiring her classmates, and then the world, with a message of peace, hope, and resilience. Sadako's story serves as a reminder that every action, no matter how small, can contribute to creating a safer world for all.

More information about #CranesforOurFuture, including campaign highlights can be found at CranesforOurFuture.org.

The Nuclear Threat Initiative is a nonprofit, nonpartisan global security organization focused on reducing nuclear, biological, and emerging technology threats imperiling humanity.

SOURCE Nuclear Threat Initiative