Collections Reflections
Miss Osaka Prefecture - What A Doll!

She's tall, with mahogany hair, a luminescent complexion and a pedigree that would raise a discreet eyebrow on the most well-bred face. She's Miss Osaka Prefecture, one of 58 "Doll Ambassadors of Good Will" sent to the United States by the Japanese in 1927. She's been part of the OHS collections since 1929.

Miss Osaka Prefecture was part of a "friendship doll" exchange between Japan and the United States resulting from the efforts of American Sidney L. Gulick, who had taught at Japan's Doshisha University in the early 20th century.

Visiting Curator
Last month the Society's understanding of the Miss Osaka Prefecture grew when Keiko Tanaka visited the Ohio Historical Center on behalf of the Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture in Hanford, Calif. Tanaka exchanged records information with OHS Collections staff and photographed the doll and its accessories. During her visit she shed light on some longstanding questions.

A Master Doll Maker
Tanaka revealed that the diminutive stateswoman is distinguished among her peers as one of the early creations of Hirata Goyo, the first Japanese doll maker designated a Living National Treasure by the Japanese government in 1955. His works enthrall many with their outstanding artistry and beauty.

About 33 inches tall, Miss Osaka Prefecture represents a Japanese girl about 7 years of age. She has a thick mane and eyelashes made of human hair and porcelain-like skin made of paulawnia wood powder, wheat gluten and powdered oyster shells. Goyo's dolls had more life-like features than most of the doll ambassadors.

Solving a Riddle
Tanaka also answered the most confounding question about Miss Osaka Prefecture: why some of her accessories don't seem to match her. It turns out the coordinating committee that forwarded the dolls' accessories after they had reached their destinations - mostly state and children’s museums - confused Miss Osaka Prefecture's accessories with those of another doll, Miss Osaka City, and sent them to OHS.

"Accessories aside, much of Miss Osaka Prefecture's value to OHS lies in the period she represents - that point in history between Japan opening up to the west and WWII," says Rosanna Meindl, collections specialist.

Miss Osaka Prefecture might say the Society's value to her lies in simple safekeeping. While 14 of the doll ambassadors are still at large - falling victim to natural disasters, museum failures and perhaps WW II anti-Japanese sentiment, Miss Osaka Prefecture rested blissfully undisturbed in OHS collections.

Further Reading:
Hartley, David B. and Katherine C. Hartley. "The 1927 American-Japanese Friendship Doll Exchange and the Dream of International Peace." South Dakota History 36 (Spring 2006): 32-65.

Kohiyama, Rui. "To Clear up a Cloud Hanging on the Pacific Ocean: The 1927 Japan-U.S. Doll Exchange." The Japanese Journal of American Studies 16 (2005): 55-80.