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Tina at front entrance of school
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In 1927, Ohdono Elementary School received from America a very special
gift, a Blue-eyed Doll named Rosemary. This doll survived World War II, when
Japan and America fought each other as bitter enemies. The school now
proudly displays the doll in a special case at the front entrance. After 75
years alone at Ohdono Elementary, Rosemary now has a younger sister named
Tina. On October 18, 2002, a new doll with brown eyes and hair was presented
to Ohdono's 600 students in a special ceremony in the school's gymnasium.
Tina is a Friendship Doll given by Sidney Gulick, 3d, and his wife
Frances, both professors of mathematics at the University of Maryland. The
grandfather of Mr. Gulick, 3d, thought of the idea to have American children
send dolls to Japan in order to improve relations between the two countries.
About 2.6 million Americans participated in this program to send
Friendship Dolls to Japan, and over 12,000 dolls arrived in Japan in early
1927. Mr. Gulick, 3d, revived his grandfather's idea of exchanging Friendship
Dolls, and he and his wife have sent about 170 dolls over the past 15 years
to Japanese elementary schools and kindergartens.
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With Principal Tanaka (left) and Mrs. Saito
(right)
Kiyoko Saito (right) at 1927 welcome ceremony
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A very special guest attended the doll presentation ceremony on the morning of
October 18. Kiyoko Saito was a 4th-grade student at
Ohdono Elementary School in 1927, the year that 200 American Blue-eyed Dolls
arrived in Yamaguchi Prefecture. Mrs. Saito was selected as the student
representative to receive the American dolls at a welcome ceremony in the Prefectural
capital, Yamaguchi City. Before the presentation ceremony for the
new doll Tina, I had a pleasant talk in the principal's office with Mrs. Saito
about her memories of the 1927 event. She still remembers how impressive it was
to see all 200 dolls lined up at the welcome ceremony. "When I saw the
dolls, I had a feeling like foreigners were there." Several newspaper
reporters in the principal's office repeatedly asked Mrs. Saito about her
impressions of the dolls' arrival, but most of the details had faded from her
memory since 75 years have passed since she was a 10-year-old girl who served
as the student representative at the ceremony. Everyone marveled at two photos
that clearly showed Mrs. Saito as a young girl at the ceremony.
The presentation ceremony started with a talk by
the principal Atsuo Tanaka, who used slides to explain the long history of the
Friendship Dolls. Ohdono's doll Rosemary is very special because only four
dolls remain in Yamaguchi Prefecture, with the rest being destroyed and lost
during World War II. The children were amazed to see the slide of Mrs. Saito as
a 4th-grade student, and the principal asked Mrs. Saito several questions about
the 1927 welcome ceremony for the Yamaguchi Friendship Dolls.
Next I gave a short talk to encourage the
students to make friends with people from around the world. Then I read a
Japanese translation of the following letter from Sidney Gulick, 3d:
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Speaking at welcome ceremony
for new doll Tina (far right)
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June 26, 2002
Dear friends at Ohdono Shogakko,
About seventy-five years ago my
grandfather, Sidney L. Gulick, inaugurated a doll mission in which American
children sent over 12,000 friendship dolls to children in Japan. In return,
Japan sent a special collection of gorgeous ambassador dolls to the United
States. Both sets of dolls were sent in order to help the children of the two
countries better understand and appreciate each other.
Now we are happy to send to
Ohdono Shogakko a new friendship doll. We present her in the same spirit that
the dolls were sent across the Pacific Ocean seventy-five years ago, through
the World Friendship Among Children in the United States and Japan, and with
the help of our friends, Bill Gordon and his family.
The name of the new friendship
doll is Tina, which is a common American girl's name. In addition to Tina
herself, my wife Mrs. Gulick has prepared another outfit, a nightgown, and
traveling bag made especially for Tina. She is also accompanied by a passport
with information about her. We hope that you will feel kind thoughts when you
see her.
We send to you and your
families our best wishes for good and peaceful year, and please enjoy Tina.
Sayonara,
Sidney L. Gulick, 3d
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Handing doll to Shuhei Nomura
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A 4th-grade boy, Shuhei Nomura, served as student
representative to receive from me the new doll Tina, along with the sports bag
and other accessories made by Mrs. Gulick. Two other 4th-grade students then
presented me with a bouquet of flowers and two lacquered Ouchi dolls. These
oval-shaped dolls are one of Yamaguchi's special products, and they now sit on
top of my CD player to remind me of my enjoyable visit to Ohdono Elementary
School.
During the morning I spoke with Hirofumi Tanaka, who
works at the Yamaguchi Prefectural Board of Education. He knows a great deal
about the history of the Friendship Dolls, especially those in Yamaguchi
Prefecture. I was surprised to learn that one doll from 1927 has been lost
when it was sent to the U.S. for a special exhibition several years ago. He
presented me with a short book about the history of one of the Friendship Dolls
in Yamaguchi Prefecture. This book has the two photos of Mrs. Saito at the
1927 welcome ceremony for the 200 dolls sent to Yamaguchi Prefecture.
I was surprised at the number of newspaper and
television reporters who came to the morning presentation ceremony. It was a
challenge for them as they tried to get Mrs. Saito to answer questions about
events from 75 years ago. In the early evening I went with the principal to a
small restaurant near the school, and we watched on
TV a news segment about the morning ceremony. Later I received articles about
the event from four different newspapers, and they each had a nice photo of the
new doll Tina being held by the 4th-grade boy who served as the student
representative.
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Principal asking Mrs. Saito
about the welcome ceremony in 1927
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Tina brought with her the following "United
States of America Passport":
Name: Tina
Eyes (color): brown
Hair (color): brown
Date of birth: May 5, 1994
Place of birth: Adelphi, Maryland, USA
Date of issue: June 15, 2002
Date of expiration: Never
Passport number: 1605052002
Signature of parent: Frances Gulick
The passport also included a cute photograph of
Tina. As I was getting ready to leave the school, two women approached me with
very sad looks on their faces. They showed me a wrinkled passport. These two
women had been trying to enclose the passport in plastic in order to preserve
it, but apparently it got caught in the machine. They had smiles on their
faces when I assured them that Mr. Gulick, 3d, could reissue the passport if
they could supply a photo of Tina that was the same size as the original one.
My second
visit to Ohdono Elementary School turned out to be quite a memorable
event. As I was leaving the school, Rosemary and Tina stood next to each other
as sister dolls to say goodbye to me. The two dolls now greet students and
teachers each day at the entrance of the school.
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