An array of paper cranes — red, orange, white and blue — covered the table in the center of the room. Some students knew how to make the traditional Japanese origami bird. Those that were new to it were instructed on exactly where to bend and fold the papers.

But they were all there for the same cause.

On Friday night, the members of the Japanese Student Association asked students to help make 1,000 paper cranes to send to the Japanese Consulate in New York City in remembrance of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan in 2011.

Thirty studentsgathered in the Hall of Languages to help JSA with the request. To give students a feel for Japanese culture, the members decorated the room with decorative and ornate Japanese fans. A large poster hung in the back of the room, detailing JSA’s previous relief efforts for the earthquake victims in Japan. Pictures of other paper crane flags were also on display for inspiration.

Students drank iced tea and snacked on traditional Japanese crackers and chocolate as they folded the cranes. They chatted with one another as they created the paper cranes from delicate square-shaped pieces of paper.

Midori Shiroyama, a senior communication and rhetorical studies major and organizer of the event, said the members pondered what they could do to show support for the Japanese community. Because the paper crane symbolizes health in Japanese culture, she knew that making them was a perfect idea.

‘The Japanese people believe that if we make 1,000 cranes and send them to people, they’re going to have well-being,’ she said.

JSA was inspired by a group of people in Japan that made a paper crane flag. This group’s flag placed the Japanese symbol for ‘dream’ in the center to send a message of hope.

Based on the current Japanese flag, JSA’s flag will have a Japanese symbol on the flag’s red circle. Orange and blue stripes around the border will represent he SU student body.

‘The symbol we are putting in the middle of the flag means ‘friends.’ We thought it would be better to combine the Japanese flag with something about SU,’ Shiroyama said. ‘That’s why we put orange and blue stripes around it.’

Because making 1,000 paper cranes in two hours is a difficult task, JSA member Jack Vining said the members would spend the weekend making the cranes if they needed time to make the flag.

JSA also sold pins, first introduced to the SU community last year after the disaster. For the pin, the group chose to place an image of the Japanese flag with a heart in the middle instead of the usual circle to symbolize love and community.

Members sold the pins during commencement and donated $8,950 to Japan. The group later received a thank-you note directly form the Consulate General in Japan thanking them for their generous donation. The group hopes the flag goes over just as well.

Students who assembled the origami were glad to play a part in giving Japan small relief after the tragic earthquake.

‘I’ve been studying Japanese language for eight years now, and I’ve come to love the culture,’ said Vining, a graduate student in the mathematics department. ‘After last year’s tragedy, I’ve been doing whatever I can to help.’

tlprocop@syr.edu

Published on February 26, 2012 at 12:00 pm