DOLL

1927

Gift of the Prefecture of Ishikawa, Japan

X1928.01.01 a-i

Miss Ishikawa is one of fifty-eight Friendship Dolls presented to the children of America by the children of Japan in 1927 in response to a similar gift from the United States earlier that year. Miss Ishikawa and her companions were issued passports and first class tickets for their voyage to San Francisco, and each traveled with a trunk packed with miniature lacquered furniture and personal items meant to make the dolls comfortable in their new homes. Each doll-known as tôrei-ningyô in Japan-had her own personal crest, which adorned her silk kimono and lacquered accessories. After arriving in the United States, however, many of the dolls, including Miss Ishikawa, were separated from their accessories, including the bamboo platforms which bore their names etched in English. Consequently, her accessories now bear one crest while her kimono bears another.