Benevolent Crane Remedy

The Japanese explained:

The two characters at top say yu and zuru. The first means “kindly,’’ “tender,” “benevolent,” and the second means “crane.

The three large vertical characters – sei, ja and yaku – mean “conquer,” “evil” and “medicine.”

The text below the word ‘dose’ says “1000 cranes.” It’s understood by readers of Japanese that this means 1000 origami cranes, which are collectively a symbol of peace.

The two characters in the circle at the bottom of the label say Oguro; this is the Japanese nom de guerre of Ink, the artist who created the work.

The design was inspired by:

1. Sadako Sasaki and the Peace Crane movement that was started in her name. Sadako (1943– 1955) was a two-year-old victim of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. She passed away from the effects of severe radiation poisoning ten years later. While on her deathbed, Sadako folded one thousand origami peace cranes and has since become a symbol of peace herself.
2. A pun on the word ‘Ukraine’ when reading the first character of yuzuru in Japanese and the second one in English: yu-crane.
3. A ubiquitous Japanese gastro-intestinal medication called Seirogan that was first used to combat dysentery among soldiers in the Russo-Japanese War, circa 1904-1905. Between 1904-1949, the name Seirogan was written with characters that meant “Conquer Russia Drops.” In 1949, the drug was euphemistically rebranded by way of a couple of clever homonyms as “Efficacious Dew Drops” – which is how it’s still known today.

5% of proceeds from sales goes to the Peace Crane Project, which promotes peace and understanding through the arts.

Words & artwork by Ink © 2022. (This collage is composed entirely of original elements and images in the public domain.)