Miss Iwate
Miss Iwate is a life-size "friendship doll" given to the children of Birmingham by children in Iwate Prefecture, 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 county before being distributed to museums and libraries around the United States. The gift 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 dolls made. 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.
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).
External links
- Miss Iwate at bplonine.org
- Japanese Friendship Dolls