Tokyo, Japan—In honor of the UN International Day of Peace, UPF-Japan, together with the Council of Religious Ambassadors for Peace (CRAFP), organized the project, Prayer for World Peace with Paper (Origami) Cranes, on September 21, 2017, in Tokyo.
Ven. Taishu Nara, a Shinto priest and vice president of CRAFP, offered a prayer. Afterwards, Mr. Shunsuke Uotani, secretary general of UPF-Japan, spoke about the significance of the Day, and imparted that UPF organized International Day of Peace activities in 250 cities in 104 nations in the past seven years (from 2008 to 2015).
A video about a similar project that took place last year—in which paper cranes and prayers for the victims of the 9/11 attacks were offered at the World Trade Center site in New York City—was shown. Then, to the applause of many in attendance, paper cranes were presented to the representatives of a nonprofit that supports conflict mediation among races and religions as well as people from Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Mr. Shinobu Ishimaru, president of the Inter-Religious Federation for World Peace—Japan, reported on the decision to give 4,000 paper cranes, which had been made by people at shrines and temples Mr. Ishimaru had visited, to the United States. He also spoke about the vision of and initiatives established by Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, the co-founders of UPF, to advance world peace through interreligious harmony. Also, a story was told about a woman, who was involved in Ambassadors for Peace activities in Manhattan, New York City, who had created and dedicated paper cranes on 9/11 at the World Trade Center site.
Later, the participants prayerfully made their own paper cranes, and enjoyed their time together.