Kids' Activities 18

2.7 Million Origami Cranes

	Konishiki (center) and kids from Sakamoto Elementary with some of the paper cranes. (Jiji)

The Japan World Cup Organizing Committee (JAWOC) announced on June 24 that it had received 2,714,670 folded paper cranes from elementary- and middle-school students all over Japan and others, many more than its target of 2 million. JAWOC plans to have these cranes float down from the air onto spectators at the award ceremony after the World Cup final in Yokohama on June 30.

The venue for the announcement was piled high with 10,000 of these cranes. Kids from Sakamoto Elementary School in Tokyo's Chuo Ward, who made some cranes for the project, joined Hawaii-born celebrity ex-sumo wrestler Konishiki in launching some of the cranes into the air and watching them dance as they floated down.

The dropping of the cranes is part of celebrations to mark the award of the World Cup to the winning team. The project is called "Wings of a Dream." How the cranes will be dropped will remain a secret until the time of the performance.

Spectators at the final will be able to take the cranes that float down into the stadium home as souvenirs, while some of them will be displayed by the local authorities of the 10 host cities.