1000 Paper Crane Tattoos

Emily's tattoo...

2010-07-20T05:07:00.000-07:00

"I got my tattoo because of my unyielding beliefs of peace and interdependence. It is a simple, exquisite symbol of peace. As a social work student who works for a non-profit organization, I meet people on a daily basis from all walks of life. I learn so much from them; we have a give and take relationship. We depend on each other to be givers of peace. We are our brother and sister's keeper. Additionally, I wanted my crane to be a reminder of peace within the self. A paper crane is only a piece of paper, a simple object manipulated in to beauty, my tattoo is also an ode to creativity. As for the design of the tattoo, it is a custom design, I haven't seen any identical to it. I just wanted clean, black lines to create a simple, humble image."

(I am Emily from St. Paul, MN)

Peace on many levels

2009-10-13T19:03:00.000-07:00

"Four years ago this December my boyfriend went off to join the army with the promise that when he came back home he would marry me. He made me promise him that I would fold him 1000 paper cranes and keep him safe so he could come home to me. Well, I didn't keep my promise. I folded 914 cranes in the first three years (I know I'm slow) and I never finished. James died January 9th of this year. I finished folding his cranes and his parents let me burn them at his funeral. I imprinted it in my skin to let everyone know that James will always be with me, until the day I die no matter what happens. It scares me to believe that if I had finished folding them, maybe he would have come home to me."

This is the tattoo. It goes from just under Cassidy's arm to her hip. It is a little hard to see that immediately but for modesty's sake, this is the shot of this beautiful tattoo.

Some of the stories that I expect are about working toward world peace... peace among people. This story is a story about peace with one's self. We are honored to have heard it.

Emma's tat

2009-09-23T11:45:00.001-07:00

After finding the site, Emma (ZOO) wondered how she could post. Easy! Email me the pic and story!

It seems that Emma's loving husband has folded paper cranes for her since they first met. What a great thing. I love love! Below is a pic of her tat. He'll have a matching one soon!

Join the movement. Celebrate love, peace, creativity!

Another blog you should visit...

2009-04-01T10:51:00.000-07:00

paper crane project

And let's get some pics of that new tat!

Healed!

2009-01-15T14:47:00.000-08:00

I am healed. This is a phone cam pic because I still don't have a new camera. Several more people are on board! Several who have never gotten a tat before. How awesome is that?!

New tats...

2008-11-21T13:28:00.000-08:00

I finally got my tattoo. I don't, however, have pictures of it. I was waiting until it healed up a bit. It was a 4 hour tat. It was definitely red, swollen and angry looking. During that waiting period my house was broken into and my camera stolen. Just my camera... and the charger for its battery that was in a different room. Very odd. At any rate, the tat looks awesome. There is one spot that I 'tore' in karate class but it's pretty well healed save for that one spot.

I'll post pics soon!

I'm excited to hear from folks. Hope you are all working on designs and stories!

The Promise of Peace

2008-08-21T10:31:00.000-07:00

My tat was inspired by the 1000 cranes story. Traditionally if a person folded 1000 cranes, then the ancient ones would grant that person a wish. It was thought that if the person was patient and driven enough to fold 1000 cranes, then she was deserving of such a wish. Families also folded 1000 cranes for weddings to bless newly joined couples. A crane is known for its fidelity, its loyalty to its partner.

More recently, the 1000 cranes tradition entered the international consciousness because of the story of a Japanese girl named Sadako who got sick with Leukemia caused by the radiation from Hiroshima. Sadako was hospitalized when she was 12 and a friend brought her a folded crane and told her of the tradition. Sadako started folding and had folded well over 1000 cranes wishing for peace in the world. When she died, she was buried with those cranes and a monument was erected in her honor with "This is our cry, this is our prayer, peace in the world" etched at the bottom. So in additional to the traditional meaning, they are now a universal symbol for peace.

It was because of these connections with all those symbols that my husband folded 500 cranes for me when we married in 2001. He told me he would give me 10 more each wedding anniversary until we reached our 50th year when the 1000 cranes would finally be completed. We joined the Peace Corps just after we got married, which meant that the peace connotation of the 1000 cranes was just as important to us.

With our separation in 2006, I folded my own 1000 cranes and
essentially reminded myself, with my wish, that I was okay on my own.

So I wanted to remember that with a tat. I asked Susan Behney, a
tattoo artist based in Washington DC at Jinxproof Tattoos, if she could combine a design with origami cranes, cherry blossoms (for DC) and a moon (for guidance). She did. This is the result.

Julie Hochgesang

Origami on TED

2008-08-10T10:45:00.000-07:00

Promotional piece!

2008-02-26T15:18:00.000-08:00

Nick Gehlhausen-Indianapolis, IN

2008-02-17T13:58:00.000-08:00

Been meditating and keep remembering the line from a hymn, “Let there be peace
on Earth and let it begin with me.” I am left believing that I can make a
difference by contemplating peace. Thoughts lead to actions which may make an
impact. As there are monks who pray for humanity and there are holy men who
dream of Nirvana, my impression is that by treating my soul as an instrument
from which the song for peace will ring out to others, mankind will benefit.
The connection of me to all the Earth. The ego and the divine are not
separate. Tapping into the core of life, that energy which stimulates and
attracts is a concept worth exploration. Not to be an evangelist and bring
others with me but to remain calm and joyful in this life. I will benefit as
I become more aware of myself, my actions do make a difference. But that is
not the most powerful impetus. It is to harmonize with existence, becoming a
true creature of nature without the cloak of modernity as a costume, distorting what is real.
The tattoo is just a physical reminder of this.

Beginnings

2008-02-01T12:08:00.000-08:00

As the project begins to unfold with the wonder like what Ryan recently posted I get more and more excited. What's more, he'll be visiting my little dot on the map very soon and plans for the ink flow to begin are being made.

Want to get your crane on the day we get ours? Keep an eye out here for the date in upcoming weeks. Make sure you take your cameras and the pdf info sheet that will soon be posted here so that you can document your crane creation and leave info with your artist!

Thank you for helping this awesomeness come into being!

Very soon,
Darren

Tattooed on the inside.

2008-01-22T08:41:00.000-08:00

*Disclaimer*

I think that one of the most wonderful things about this project is that although all the tattoos will be "the same," each one will be unique, both stylistically, and in the sense that it will mean something different to each person. For this reason, I almost hesitate to give my "why" for fear that it will be construed as somehow binding. That being said...

I want to say for the record, that I do not "hate peace," no matter what certain people might say. Admittedly though, it is not a profound love of or longing for peace that drove me to participate in this project. It was love though. Love of people, I suppose.
Picture this: It is ten years from today, and 1000pct has taken off in a big way. Somewhere in the world, there are 999 other people (probably a lot more) who are marked in a way that connects them, meaningfully, to myself. Maybe a handful of these people are friends of mine, or have become my friends through this project. Most of them though, are a mystery to me. This is a beautiful thing. This way, every time I pay for gas, every time a waitress tells me her name, every time a stranger on the street smiles at me, I will wonder, what is that peeking out above the collar of her shirt? I could be a tattoo of a paper crane. A tattoo just like mine.
I believe that we are all connected intimately to people we don't know we are connected to. You might be traveling in a foreign country, thousands of miles from anything familiar, and meet someone in a train station who grew up in the same hometown as you. You might read a book, and then take a new job and talk to someone who works there about the book and learn that the author was her first boyfriend. We are linked to others in beautiful and unimaginable ways. These tattoos will be a physical manifestation of those bonds. A constant reminder that no matter how lonely we may feel, we are never alone.
Moreover, once we start wondering "could this new friend have a paper crane tattoo?" we will realize that the answer doesn't matter. We will assume that everyone sitting on the bus with us DOES share our unique bond, even if they don't display the outward "symptom."

I'm Ryan Scott, and this is what my crane means.

A beginning...

2007-12-14T14:02:00.000-08:00

Some weeks ago I decided that I wanted to get a new tattoo... well, a thousand new tattoos. I wanted to get 1000 paper cranes tattooed on my body as a statement about world peace. It seemed like a good idea at the time and even a few of my friends agreed. Then I met a new friend who I will refer to as Ryan since that is his name. I was introduced to him by another friend, Keverlee.

Over some great Indian cuisine we were discussing tattoos and I shared my plan. Ryan shared that he didn't think I have enough real estate for all those birds unless they were so small as to be unidentifiable. After some discussion we somehow got this idea of finding 997 other people to get a tattoo of a paper crane. Those 997 plus the three of us would make a network of 1000 peace advocates. If we took those thousand people and collected their stories and pictures of their tattoos and maybe even videos about their work we would have a pretty powerful force for peace.

I know there has been at least one project like this that I found online but I can't seem to figure out how to get in touch with the person.

The plan for the work is to have this blog set up such that folks getting the ink can post their stories, the artists doing the work can have a way to show a portfolio of their completed pieces, and, possibly most importantly, all of us can create a place where our little bits of work towards peace can pick up new energy, more momentum and eventually see a world celebrating peace.

There will be more to come. Ryan, Keverlee and I will be getting our ink done soon and hopefully find thousands of you to get another, a first, or an only tattoo in support of the family of the Earth growing closer together.

Thank you for being here.