Miss Mie Returns to Japan
In late July 2009, Miss Mie will return to her “birth place” on the island of Honshu in Japan following an 80 year-long absence. She was recently visited by her homecoming committee from Tsu City in the Mie Prefecture on the central coast of Honshu. The homecoming committee included Mr. Takekazu Takebayashi (President, Committee for Miss Mie Homecoming and the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Tsu City), Mrs. Sayo Noro (Vice-President of the Committee and Wife of the Governor of the Mie Prefecture), Mr. Hideyuki Takizawa (Secretary-General of the Committee), and Mrs. Kazue Yamane (Secretary). The committee was accompanied during their visit in late September by Ms. Deb Sturgeon who served as an interpreter.
.jpg) |
|
Miss Mie was among the 58 Torei Ningyo (Dolls of Gratitude) or Friendship Dolls that Japanese school children sent to the United States in 1927. Prior to their arrival, the Committee on World Friendship Among Children, founded by missionary Dr. Sidney Gulick, had sent 12,000 “blue-eyed” dolls to children in Japan. Each Torei Ningyo had a number of accessories including a passport, a steamship ticket, a wooden base with name plaque, lacquered clothing chests, shoes, two pedestal lanterns, a silk parasol, and many hand-written letters from Japanese children. Our museum is home for Miss Mie as well as all of her accessories and more than 150 friendship letters.
 |
|
Public awareness about the Friendship Dolls increased during the 1980s and at least 44 dolls have been re-located throughout the United States. Four Torei Ningyo have returned to Japan for restoration and a homecoming tour. Miss Mie will return to the Mie Prefecture next summer where she will be given a “welcome home” celebration. She will then be restored by the Yoshitoku Doll Company (founded in 1711) in Tokyo. Following her restoration, Miss Mie will visit 12 cities within the Mie Prefecture during the spring of 2010 and then return to Nebraska accompanied by Susan Curtis, collection assistant, and an entourage of our Japanese friends. Miss Mie’s arrival at the Museum will be marked by a public celebration to honor a new and growing friendship with the citizens of the Mie Prefecture and the people of Japan.
