| Blue-eyed Dolls Existing in Ehime Prefecture |
| Doll in Back: Betty |
|
In 1927, about 12,000 Blue-eyed Dolls from the US crossed the ocean and arrived
in Japan. Twenty-four were given to Ehime Prefecture, and one of these came to
Kamiyama Elementary School. She is the doll Betty Jane, who even now is kept in
the good care of children at the school. These dolls, urging "world peace
through children . . .," were friendship messengers who connected American
children and Japanese children. Even a song was written about the dolls.
However, when World War II started, they had an unfortunate fate, with many of them being burned or destroyed in other ways because of orders from the military. In the midst of those conditions, Kamiyama Elementary School's Betty survived, being hidden in the attic above the school staff room. After the war ended, Betty appeared again before the children. In 1989, 63 years after Betty was given as a present, the doll Carol was given by Sidney Gulick, 3d, the grandson of Dr. Gulick, who started the original effort to give Blue-eyed Dolls to Japan. The doll Carol came to Kamiyama Elementary with a passport, a traveling bag, and a change of clothes. Betty and Carol express to all children the preciousness of peace and friendship. In a world where their eyes kindly shine, . . . ! |
