Miss Shimane friendship ambassador doll

Description:	In 1927, children in the United States sent over 12,000 dolls, with voices that said mama, to Japanese school children as a gesture of friendship. Japan responded by sending Miss Shimane and her sisters as a thank you. First, a national collection took place in the Japanese schools. Each child donated their yen, equal at that time to about 1/2 a penny. Her Imperial Highness Princess Teru became involved. It was decided 58 dolls would be made by the Yamada firm of Tokyo, who for generations were the doll makers for the royal family. The dolls were made and named after all of the prefectures, or governmental regions, in Japan. Miss Shimane was named for the Shimane prefecture of Japan. Six dolls were named for major Japanese cities, while four more were named for Japanese colonies. One very ornate doll was even named Miss Hideko Yamato, or Miss Japan. Miss Japan became part of the Smithsonian Museums collection. Each doll also had her own set of objects, as needed by a proper ambassador to show Japanese customs. Miss Shimane traveled with items used for the tea ceremony and additional objects used to celebrate Girls Day, Hina Matsuri. When the dolls were completed and ready, a great national going-away party was held. Each doll was placed aboard the large steamer ship Tenyo Maru with a ticket and passport. The first stop was Hawaii. One doll went ashore, where she was greeted by a crowd of over 5,000 people. Miss Shimane left Japan in 1927. With her sister dolls she traveled across the United States. Grand parties welcomed the little ambassadors of friendship. In 1929 The Childrens Museum became Miss Shimanes home. About fifteen years after receiving friendship dolls, the United States of America and Japan were at war. During World War II, friendship dolls in both countries were lost and destroyed. Some of the American dolls, known as mama-san dolls, have been found where teachers and others hid them safely away. Here, Miss Shimane was not lost, but she did go into storage, as did other dolls in the Midwest. Recently, museums have shared their dolls so that once again the goodwill ambassadors can spread the message of friendship to both countries.
Source:	http://www.digitalindy.org/cdm/ref/collection/tcm/id/1822
Collection:	The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
Rights:	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/;
Copyright:	Creative Commons (CC By-SA 3.0);
Subjects:	Dolls toys Japan Dolls -- Japan Japan -- Social life and customs International relations Cultural relations

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