Peace Park (Seattle)

Peace Park
Sadako Sasaki statue in Peace Park
Interactive map of Peace Park
TypeUrban Park
LocationSeattle, Washington
Coordinates47°39′21″N 122°19′10″W / 47.65583°N 122.31944°W / 47.65583; -122.31944
Established1990 (1990)
OperatorSeattle Parks and Recreation

Peace Park is a park located in the University District of Seattle, Washington, at the corner of Northeast 40th Street and 9th Avenue Northeast, at the northern end of the University Bridge. Its construction was conceived and led by Floyd Schmoe, winner of the 1988 Hiroshima Peace Prize, and dedicated on August 6, 1990, 45 years after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

The park was home to a full-size bronze statue of Sadako Sasaki, sculpted by Daryl Smith, which was cut off above the ankles and stolen in July of 2024.[1] Schoolchildren and other community members from around the city of Seattle frequently draped strings of peace cranes on the statue following the Japanese custom of the one thousand origami cranes.

History

The statue of Sadako Sasaki at Peace Park

Seattle's Peace Park was dedicated on August 6, 1990, at the north end of University Bridge. The hillside site, which had been an undeveloped area that was regularly crowded with illegal car parking and garbage, was cleaned up and landscaped by volunteers under the leadership of peace activist Floyd Schmoe, the winner of the 1988 Hiroshima Peace Prize. Schmoe had been a University of Washington student during the Incarceration and assisted fellow students affected by Executive Order 9066.[2][3] He lobbied the city government to establish a peace park after receiving the 1988 Kiyoshi Tanimoto Peace Award from the Hiroshima Peace Center and used the $4,000 (1988 dollars) monetary award towards the project.[2]

The centerpiece of the park is Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, a bronze statue of Sadako Sasaki created by sculptor Darryl Smith.[4][5] An exact twin is The Peace Child of Hiroshima[6], a 1991 casting by the artist, installed at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. Together, these comprise a tripartite with a bronze crane by the artist, located in Mukilteo, Washington, commemorating early Japanese-Americans there and community or regional reconciliation after the Internment.[7]

Smith said that he “sought to capture what sculptors call 'alightment'”, the sense that the figure is on the edge of a precipice, launching the orizuru. Smith said that he used a classroom photo, studied Eleanor Coerr's book Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes (1977), and drew on his learning of human anatomy “to create her embodiment.”[8]

Sasaki was a survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima at the age of two but died of leukemia a decade later. During her hospitalization, she aimed to fold one thousand origami cranes, which continue to be placed on her statues in Seattle and Hiroshima.[2][9] As of 2023, the statue is the only outdoor monument in Seattle's municipal art collection that honors a female historical figure.[10]

The efforts to adorn the space around the statue with peace cranes spontaneously come from Sadako's own attempt to fold 1000 cranes. Although she died after making 644 cranes, her story inspired those around her to continue the endeavor she began.[11][12] The origami crane, translated from orizuru in Japanese, carries a major cultural significance. It is believed that making 1000 cranes fulfills a person's goals and dreams, and was later deemed a peace effort in honor of Sadako.[11]

Vandalism and upgrades

In December 2003, the statue was vandalized leaving damage to the ankle and a cut off right arm of the statue.[13]Being long since the originals were cast and no longer having the mold, Smith made an impression from the identical Sadako at the University of Utah for an exact restoration.[14] After the statue was vandalized,[15] a number of people, including Sadako's family, requested the statue be relocated to the more heavily trafficked Green Lake Park. Ultimately the Seattle Parks Department decided the statue should remain in the Peace Park, where it was re-installed in mid-January 2005. The statue was later restored after the community donated towards its repair and held a celebration continuing to honor Sasaki's legacy.[13]

In 2008, Peace Park was renovated by Seattle Parks and Recreation. This included new additions such as sidewalks, a stairway, and pathways that connected other public parks and trails, such as the Cheshiahud Lake Union Loop two streets south.[2] The statue was vandalized again in September 2012[4] but was later repaired.

On July 12, 2024, the statue was reported stolen by the Seattle Police Department. The majority of the statue was removed, except for the feet below mid shank.[4] A local historian figured that the 2024 incident was not politically-motivated vandalism, but theft for monetary reasons.[16][17] [18] [19]

References

  1. ↑ Li, Joyce. "Community gathers at Seattle park where stolen Sadako Sasaki statue stood". The Seattle Times. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
  2. ↑ "Floyd Schmoe". Densho Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 Freeman, Caitlyn (July 15, 2024). "Seattle Peace Park statue of Hiroshima bombing survivor stolen". The Seattle Times. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
  4. ↑ Laney, Kirby Lindsay, 5 April 2000, “Darryl Smith, An Authentic Fremont Artist”, fremocentrist.com, originally in The Seattle Press, 5 April 2000, https://fremocentrist.com/commentary/darryl-smith-an-authentic-fremont-artist/
  5. ↑ "The Peace Child of Hiroshima, (sculpture)". Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on April 28, 2021. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Japanese-heritage marker, bronze origami crane (Darryl Smith, 2000), Heritage Park, Mukilteo, December 10, 2007" [image caption] [image rights reserved] Riddle, Margaret (December 30, 2007). "Monument in remembrance of Mukilteo's early Japanese community is dedicated on May 30, 2000". History Link.
  7. ↑ Smith, Darryl. "Sadako. portfolio of the artist". Archived from the original on March 6, 2012.
  8. ↑ "The Story of Sadako Sasaki (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  9. ↑ Barak Hamid, Zaki; Gasca, Noel (April 11, 2023). "Where are all the monuments to women in Seattle?". KUOW. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
  10. 1 2 "Sadako and The Thousand Cranes". The Nuclear World Project. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  11. ↑ Smith, Darryl. "Sadako. portfolio of the artist". Archived from the original on March 6, 2012.
  12. 1 2 "Sadako at peace". The Seattle Times. August 7, 2004. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  13. ↑ Coolican, J. Patrick (January 13, 2004). "Artist to fix damage to Peace Park statue". The Seattle Times.
  14. ↑ "Vandalized statue of A-bomb victim repaired". The Japan Times. Kyodo News Agency. August 4, 2004. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
  15. ↑ Sanders, Hank (July 14, 2024). "Statue of Hiroshima Bombing Victim Stolen From Seattle Park". The New York Times. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
  16. ↑ Martinez, Xavier (July 20, 2024). "Raven sculpture stolen from Shoreline trailhead". The Seattle Times. “Emissary Raven” was stolen shortly after theft of the Sadako statue.
  17. ↑ Scruggs, Gregory (November 23, 2024). "Bronze thefts from Seattle-area parks leave lasting wounds". The Seattle Times.­
  18. ↑ Vansynghel, Margo (October 19, 2025). "In Seattle, theft of bronze art is rising. Why? And who is impacted?". The Seattle Times.
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