A specially designed paper crane called “Unity” took flight today with a message to those in Japan still affected by March’s devastating earthquake and tsunami.  Handmade For Japan and its supporters want to send hope, solidarity, and the promise of renewal with this crane. Inspiringly created by Mignon Khargie, the crane will ‘virtually’ fly around the world to raise donations for GlobalGiving’s Japan relief fund. Its journey via Google Map takes place on a novel website called Kizuna Cranes run by Mcgarrybowen/Dentsu, where people can make donations starting from $10 to sponsor Unity’s travels. The donation will allow the sponsor to print out the design and fold it into a crane. Unity will appear at the sponsor’s location on Google Map and photos and messages can be uploaded by the donor to celebrate the crane’s passage. One especially neat feature of the crane’s journey is that it displays a worldwide network of donors and we hope that this will showcase Handmade For Japan’s global footprint and how we all care about Japan’s recovery from the disaster.

What is the special meaning of the origami Crane and Koi (Carp) depicted in the design? In Japan people fold origami cranes to pray for the fulfillment of a wish, such as for a sick friend to get better or for a grandparent to have a long life. In the Kizuna Crane project, our wish as we fold the crane is for Japan to rebuild and prosper once again. For the design of the crane, Mignon picked a school of carp swimming upstream in both calm and rolling waters to illustrate the qualities of serenity, unity, and perseverance in times of hardship.

Please make a donation today and sponsor Unity’s travels. Having already raised $95,000, Handmade For Japan wants to reach a goal of $100,000 and we hope that you can help us in this endeavor. All the proceeds go to GlobalGiving’s Japan relief fund.

Mignon Khargie is an art director for “San Louie” magazine, published in San Luis Obispo, California, where she lives. She loves to draw animals, is an illustrator at Salon.com, and has written for “Uppercase” magazine. She maintains the blog A Plate A Day and is also the co-founder of the Reading In Public project in San Luis Obispo.

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