Blue-eyed Doll - Song by Ujo Noguchi

Blue-eyed Doll
Song by Ujo Noguchi


	Ujo Noguchi

The following song was written by Ujo Noguchi, who wrote many famous songs, poems, and nursery rhymes for children. This well-known children's composer was born in Ibaraki Prefecture in 1882 and died in 1945. The "Blue-eyed Doll" song was written in 1921, six years prior to the arrival of over 12,000 Blue-eyed Dolls from America.

A blue-eyed doll,
Made of celluloid,
Was born in America.
When she arrived at a harbor in Japan,
She had many tears in her eyes.
I do not understand the language.
If I get lost, what should I do?
Warm-hearted Japanese girls,
Please be my friends and play with me.
Please be my friends and play with me.

Because this song by Ujo Noguchi was so popular among Japanese children in the 1920s, the dolls sent by American children to Japan in 1927 came to be affectionately known as "Blue-eyed Dolls," even though many of the dolls did not have blue eyes.

Note: "Celluloid" is a highly-flammable type of plastic, which was used in the making of many dolls in the 1920s.

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Photo used with permission of Kitaibaraki City, Lifelong Education Section