The life of Sadako Sasaki is the inspiration behind "Peace on Your Wings," which debuts Thursday at Leeward Theatre.

The production, by Mililani-based nonprofit group Ohana Arts, is the first original play by the group, which offers musical theater training for youths ages 8 to 18.

The youths in the program inspired the musical, according to Ohana Arts founders Jennifer Taira, Laurie Rubin and Cari Lee. The play’s musical score is composed by Taira, with Rubin as lyricist and Lee as stage director.

"We wrote this show for them," said Taira, who was looking for more original material for the Asian-American youth in the program. "We were looking for something to fit their voices and personalities."

Ohana Arts, founded in 2010, offers youth music composition, songwriting and musical theater programs, with opportunities to work with instructors from both Hawaii and the mainland.

Past productions include "Mulan, Jr.," "The Wizard of Oz" and "Hairspray."

Taira said she always thought Sadako’s story would make good material for a musical.

Sadako, a survivor of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima, died from leukemia in 1955 at the age of 12. While at the hospital, she began folding paper cranes, representing the sacred birds of Japan, with hopes of becoming well again. Japanese legend says that if a sick person folds 1,000 cranes, that person will be granted a wish. 

Through her tragic story, Sadako became an international celebrity, and today the cranes have become a symbol of peace.

"Kids really can handle a lot," said Rubin. "So we wanted to not make it a kid show, but an adult show for kids."

While Sadako’s true story is the backbone of the tween drama, which is set in 1954 in Japan, the various fictional acts touch on modern-day issues faced by middle-school students — such as bullying, self-identity, the meaning of friendship and coping with terminal illness, death and war.

Musical influences include a combination of modern pop, Japanese and 1950s tunes. The theme song is "Peace on Your Wings."

Ohana Arts’ funds from a kickstarter campaign, sponsorship from ABC Stores and a grant from the Mayor’s Office of Culture and the Arts made the Oahu premiere possible. The Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii’s sponsorship will allow the musical to tour neighbor isles early next year. 

The play features 37 Ohana Arts students from more than 15 schools.

Shayna Yasunaga, an eighth-grader at Washington Middle School, plays Sadako.

"All (Sadako) wanted was peace among everybody," said Shayna. "She’s happy-go-lucky, peppy and energetic, and she doesn’t want anything to happen to her friends. Her story is a good message to pass along."

The play follows Sadako’s life as she goes from a healthy girl who won a field day race at her school through her leukemia diagnosis and her untimely death. 

As in real life, Sadako’s classmates and friends raise funds to build a monument — which today is at the center of Hiroshima Peace Park in Japan — in her honor. 

There are some serious parts, according to Rubin, but also many moments of humor.

"There’s a greater message of spreading peace, and that keeps coming back to the paper cranes, which are symbolic of world peace," said Taira. 

That, in turn, fits with the mission of Ohana Arts, which is to promote world friendship and peace through the universal language of the arts.