Looking for Stories and Context for a Photo of My Grandfather and the Blue-Eyed Dolls of 1927
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22005995 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Elena Tajima Creef (0000-0003-3920-0483, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Publication date | 2024-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Trans Asia Photography (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2158-2025 • E-ISSN: 2158-2025 |
| Publisher | Duke University Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1215/21582025-11806949 |
| OpenAlex | W4416011305 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 4 |
In 1927, during a period of tense relations between the United States and Japan, former missionary Sydney Gulick launched a cross-cultural goodwill campaign that involved sending 12,739 “friendship dolls” from American schoolchildren to Japan. The arrival of these “blue-eyed dolls” prompted the reciprocal exchange of 58 traditional Japanese “dolls of gratitude” to the States. A rare historical photograph—of unknown provenance—depicting the local reception of some of these American dolls among elementary school principals in Saitama is the subject of both a personal mediation as well as historical scrutiny in order to fill in the blank spots of its origin
Goodwill · Reciprocal · Scrutiny · Australian History and Society · Historical Education Studies Worldwide · Japanese History and Culture
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |