Japanese Friendship Dolls

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[edit] Overview

Japanese Friendship Dolls or Friendship Dolls was a program of goodwill between the children of Japan and the United States. Sidney Gulick, a missionary in Japan, initiated an exchange of dolls between children as a way to ease cultural tensions between these countries in the 1920s. A cause of these increased tensions was the Immigration Act of 1924 which prohibited East Asians from immigrating to the United States. Gulick participated in forming a group called the "Committee on World Friendship Among Children". In 1927, the first project was to organize the sending of 12,739 “Friendship Dolls” to Japan. These dolls are also known as American Blue-eyed Dolls and arrived in time for Hinamatsuri - the annual Japanese doll festival.

Inspired by this act of goodwill, Viscount Eiichi Shibusawa led a collection in Japan to reciptocate for this gift. The best doll makers in Japan were commissioned to produce 58 Friendship Dolls. Each doll was 32-33 inches tall and were dressed in beautiful kimonos made of silk. Each doll also came with unique accessories. These Japanese Friendship Dolls represented specific Japanese prefectures, cities or regions. The dolls were sent to libraries and museums throughout the United States. Over the year, a few were lost or are missing, but many are still on display today. These include:
Miss Dai Nippon (or Miss Japan) at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C.
Miss Toyama at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky
Miss Hiroshima at the Baltimore Museum of Art
Miss Nagasaki at the Rochester Museum & Science Center
Miss Oita at the Springfield Science Museum in Springfield, Mass.