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Friendship dolls

Friendship dolls, Japanese friendship dolls (友情人形, yūjō ningyō), or Japanese ambassador dolls and the American blue-eyed dolls (青い目の人形, aoi me no ningyō), were dolls sent between Japan and the United States in 1927. The dolls were meant to improve the deteriorated relationship between Japan and America that had resulted from the Immigration Act of 1924, which prohibited East Asians from immigrating to the United States and sparked anti-Japanese exclusion movements in California and other parts of the US. The Friendship dolls were meant to inspire children to cultivate friendship with the children of the other country, rather than to initiate specific political or legal changes.

Friendship dolls project

Dr. Sidney Gulick was a former missionary who spent time in Japan between 1888 and 1913. He was familiar with the importance of dolls in Japanese culture, and to promote goodwill between the countries he initiated a program to send dolls from the US to children in Japan. Gulick helped form a group called the Committee on World Friendship Among Children (CWFC), which was overseen by the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, and the Commission on International Justice and Goodwill.

In 1927, the group's first project was to organize the sending of 12,739 friendship dolls, also known as American blue-eyed dolls, to Japan to communicate American children's feelings of friendship and goodwill towards the Japanese people.. The Committee on World Friendship Among Children, Gulick, and Japanese businessman Viscount Eiichi Shibusawa worked together on the project. The American dolls arrived in Yokohama time for Hinamatsuri, the annual Japanese doll festival, in March 1927. They were positively received, with one group of dolls receiving an audience with the Emperor of Japan. One source suggests that the dolls popularized a children's song called "The Doll with Blue Eyes". The dolls were distributed to kindergartens and elementary schools throughout Japan and their occupied territories. Fewer than 100 of the dolls were sent to Formosa and divided amongst the ethnically segregated elementary schools and kindergartens.

The project focused on children due to their image as messengers of peace. Gulick also believed that a deeper understanding of different cultures from a young age could prevent the friction created by cultural prejudice. This was reflected in the report “Doll of Friendship” of the Committee on World Friendship Among Children, which stated that there is no other way for eternal world peace other than education.

Shibusawa led a collection in Japan to reciprocate for this gift, although Gulick and the Committee had told them they did not expect such a thing. A group, the Committee on International Friendship among Children in Japan, was formed to oversee the project. Doll makers in Japan were commissioned to produce 58 friendship dolls, each of which represented one of 47 prefectures, four territories, and six major cities, plus one "national" doll.

The dolls arrived in San Francisco in November 1927, and groups of dolls were subsequently brought on a nationwide tour of 479 cities by Gulick and the Committee. Afterwards, they were sent to libraries and museums throughout the United States, with each of the states (48 at the time) receiving at least one doll each. American parents and teachers were asked to the doll exchange as an educationally beneficial event to teach American children about Hinamatsuri and Japanese cultural values.

American blue-eyed dolls

The Friendship dolls were American Composition Dolls, which were very popular at that time. The dolls were primarily made in consultation with three doll makers: Averill Manufacturing Co., Effanbee, and E.I. Horsman & Co. Some of the friendship dolls came from outside the three companies; these included German bisque dolls and other manufactures.

The CWFC requested that the donated dolls were "price as moderate as quality would permit; face, arms, and legs of unbreakable material; joints and wig handsewn; eyes that opened and closed; and a voice that should say unmistakably 'Mama'". The majority had blonde hair and blue eyes, leading to them being called the "American blue-eyed dolls"; the CWFC suggested in their materials that the dolls should “look like attractive and typical American girls,” which would “indirectly suggest that the dolls should be white”. Some dolls were donated with handmade clothing, sometimes reflective of the region they were sent from, and in response to CWFC requests that dolls "be carefully dressed in every detail". They were approximately 30 cm in height, and had mobile limbs and a cotton-filled torso.

The CWFC set up a "Doll Travel Bureau" to manage the donated dolls, which was overseen by CWFC member Rosalie Ashton.

Dolls were donated by churches, schools, and scouting groups across the country. Each doll was sent with a message including the name of the doll, the names of the givers and the address for the "thank you" letter. Dolls were given farewell parties and given "passports" that cost 1 cent and "railroad and steamer tickets" that cost 99 cents. It was suggested that "girls specialize on the selection of the dolls and the making of their clothing and that boys serve as business and ticket agents". Dolls were also accompanied with a poem written by Robert Underwood Johnson, titled "Friends Across the Sea", which was written at the request of the CWFC.

In total, 22,379 dolls were collected from 47 of the 48 states in the United States, 11,975 of which were sent to Japan according to the historical materials of Eiichi Shibusawa. Other sources cite the number of dolls sent at 12,739.

During World War II, many of the dolls were destroyed, but some were saved by individuals. As of 2002, only 233 American-made dolls had been recovered.

Japanese dolls

Each doll was 32-33 inches tall, with a silk yuzen-dyed kimono, complete with family crest and furisode-style sleeves, and "bridal trousseau" accessories. Each doll had uniquely sculpted facial features made from gofun.

The majority of the dolls (51 of 58) were made by Tokyo's Yoshitoku Doll Company, and represented the 51 prefectures and colonies of Japan. They had a partial wood core covered with fabric, and human hair, glass eyes, hinged legs, and a mechanism that allowed them to say "mama" when squeezed. Individual artists are credited on labels on the back of each doll.

The remaining seven dolls, representing six Japanese cities and the Imperial household, were made by the Ohki Heizo (Maruhei) Doll Company in Kyoto. They were made of wood with peg joints at the legs allowing for movement.

As with the American-made dolls, the Japanese dolls were also sent with passports, steamship tickets, and letters written by children.

Over the years, a few dolls were lost or went missing, but many are still on display today; some, however, may not be displayed under the correct name due to errors in transport. Up to 25 of the dolls may be currently identified under names different than originally intended.

Locations

Legacy

Denny Gulick, grandson of Sidney, has tried to revive the doll exchange idea.

In 2012, American novelist Kirby Larson published a novel called The Friendship Doll, which followed Miss Kanagawa during her tour across the United States.

Friendship dolls