Miss Iwate
Miss Iwate is a life-size "friendship doll" given to the children of Birmingham by children in Japan in 1928 under the auspices of Sidney Gulick's Committee on World Friendship Among Children. She is one of 58 dolls which toured the country before being distributed to museums and libraries around the United States. The gift, coordinated by businessman Eiichi Shibusawa, was a thank you for the 12,739 American dolls sent to Japan in 1927.
An estimated 2.6 million children in Japan each contributed a small amount to have the gifts constructed by master doll makers. Each is about 33 inches tall. Miss Iwate is dressed in a handmade orange, pink and beige silk kimono decorated with butterflies and tied with a mint green obi. Underneath she wears an emerald green kimono decorated with pink peonies and red underkimono with gold butterflies and lace bloomers. Though her stand and parasol are inscribed "Miss Iwate", the crests on her kimono read "Oita", indicating that she hails from the Oita Prefecture, rather than from Iwate.
Miss Iwate travelled in a black trunk and was accompanied by a second trunk containing a chest of drawers, a sewing table, a tea set, two lanterns, and her own smaller toy dolls. Thousands of children's letters were also delivered with her, explaining the annual Feast of Dolls and the tradition of handing down dolls from mother to daughter in Japan.
Miss Iwate is in the care of the Birmingham Public Library and is displayed for special events. She was put on display for the Birmingham Festival of Arts Salute to Japan (1967) and for "An Evening with Miss Iwate and Alan Pate" in February 2013. Due to the effects of time, Miss Iwate's kimono is somewhat bedraggled and her arm and leg joints have loosened. The library is gathering funds to return her to Japan for conservation.
In 2015 Miss Iwate returned to Tokyo to be restored. She was accompanied by Birmingham Public Library department head Haruyo Miyagawa. The $1,500 restoration was funded by donations. The work was undertaken by the Yoshitoku Doll Company, and led by the son of her original maker. Her face was sanded and re-coated with multiple layers of crushed oyster shells, and a damaged knee joint was replaced. She was given a new fan, a new tatami mat, and a new wooden display stand.
After her restoration, Miss Iwate was displayed at the Iwate Prefectural Museum in Morioka alongside one of her "blue-eyed" counterparts owned by Kesen Elementary School in Rikuzentakata. From January 8 to March 22, 2018, Miss Iwate was exhibited in several cities in the Iwate Prefecture in celebration of the 90th anniversary of the Friendship Doll program.
References
- Huebner, Michael (February 13, 2013) "Miss Iwate to make rare showing at Birmingham Public Library on Feb. 21." The Birmingham News
- Gordon, Tom (March 18, 2016) "The return of Miss Iwate." Weld for Birmingham
External links
- Miss Iwate at bplonine.org
- Japanese Friendship Dolls