Peace Candle
The original plywood candle was replaced with a stronger candle made of fiberglass and galvanized steel, the covering of which was stretched on steel and wood frames. It was designed by the Allentown-based firm Rileigh's Inc. and constructed at a cost of about $12,500. The flame was built out of fiberglass strips with lights that changed color in sequence, to create a more realistic burning flame than the original candle. The new structure was , compared to the original . Each side of the new candle was about wide on each side. Due to the increase in size, it was no longer necessary to place the flame structure over the bugler statue on the top of the Soldiers' & Sailors' Monument. Four new smaller candles were built and stood tall and were about wide on each side. Special lighting equipment was added to give the Peace Candle a natural effect that would make it realistically flicker throughout the night. At the base of the candles, 75 tall evergreen trees with gold ornaments were placed, strung with more than 2,000 Christmas tree lights.
Children's Peace Monument
The monument is located in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Japan. Designed by native artists Kazuo Kikuchi and Kiyoshi Ikebe, the monument was built using money derived from a fund-raising campaign by Japanese school children, including Sadako Sasaki's classmates, with the main statue entitled ""Atomic Bomb Children"". The statue was unveiled on 5 May 1958, the Japanese Children's Day holiday. Sadako Sasaki, who died of an atomic bomb disease radiation poisoning is immortalized at the top of the statue, where she holds a wire crane above her head. Shortly before she passed, she had a vision to create a thousand cranes. Japanese tradition says that if one creates a thousand cranes, they are granted one wish. Sadako's wish was to have a world without nuclear weapons. Thousands of origami cranes from all over the world are offered around the monument. They serve as a sign that the children who make them and those who visit the statue desire a world without nuclear war, having been tied to the statue by the story that Sadako died from radiation-induced leukemia after folding just under a thousand cranes, wishing for world peace. However, an exhibit which appeared in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum stated that by the end of August 1955, Sadako had achieved her goal and continued to fold more cranes. Unfortunately, her wish was not granted and she died of the leukemia on October 25, 1955. Her main reason of death was from the radiation poisoning from the atomic bomb Little Boy.