By Joyce Li
Seattle Times staff reporter
Chiyo Sanada, a calligrapher from Hiroshima, Japan, moved to Seattle 24 years ago. Homesick and struggling with English, she felt lost in the city. Then, one day, she saw a familiar face on TV.
A life-size bronze statue of Sadako Sasaki appeared on the screen. Sadako was a 12-year-old girl who survived the Hiroshima atomic bomb as a toddler, but died a decade later from cancer likely caused by the resulting radiation exposure. Until recently, the statue stood in Peace Park in the University District.
“Sadako is in Seattle? I know her!” Sanada had thought, remembering the city she’s from, where Sadako is also commemorated as a statue in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.
On July 12, Seattle’s statue of Sadako was reported stolen after it was severed at the ankles and taken, leaving behind only Sadako’s sandaled feet. Sanada joined more than 50 people on Friday for a healing event commemorating its loss.
Sanada and others spoke about what Sadako’s story meant to them. In her Peace Park statue, Sadako was depicted with an arm outstretched, holding an origami crane — one of the 1,000 she had folded in the hospital as a wish to get better.
When Sanada heard about the theft, she was shocked. “I cried and I felt her pain,” she said. “However, I don’t want to lose hope … For many years, her story inspired people all over the world, and I’m one of them.”
