The crane in legend

In Japan the crane is known as the ‘bird of happiness’ and the legend that it lives for 1000 years can be attributed to the story of the twelfth century Yorimoto, who attached labels to the legs of cranes, re-released them, and asked people who captured them to re-release them, recording the date and place of their capture. Some of his labelled cranes were reported to be still alive centuries later.
Another legend has it that at an eleventh century Buddhist festival, hundreds of cranes were set free in thanksgiving for a victory in battle. Each had a prayer strip attached to its leg for those killed in the battle. This is thought to be the first association of cranes with a prayer for peace.

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