After extensive repairs, Miss Toyama was put on display in Japan with one of the
thousands of blue-eyed dolls that American children sent to Japan in 1927.
Seeing the dolls today, Japanese schoolchildren had a lot to say about them
in letters sent to the J.B. Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky.
Sixth-grader Eriko Ohashi wrote:
I believe that the dolls with blue eyes have many memories. While many
of the dolls had been burned or lost, we have one of the fortunate blue-eyed
dolls in the principal's office in our Sango Elementary School. It is named
Mary Brown.
I think the teachers at that time did not burn the doll because they felt
sorry for her, and I am glad they didn't…. Because the doll was a little old,
my first impression was that it was scary, but after learning that it has been
serving as a diplomatic ambassador from America, it is a treasure in my heart.
Ai Funaki, a sixth-grader, wrote:
The song, 'The Dolls with Blue Eyes,' was popular among children when my mother was a small girl. I believe
that these dolls have been watching the relationship between Japan and America
through their blue eyes…. Please take care of Miss Toyama, the doll our
prefecture sent you, just as you have before.
Masakazu Fujiki was sad when he learned that many of the blue-eyed dolls
were destroyed during World War II. But many were saved by brave people who
said, "There dolls are not our enemies. The dolls have good hearts in
them." Masakazu was pleased that his school preserved "Betty Roe"
and believes that Miss Toyama was saved by all the American and Japanese
children's wishes for friendship. When Miss Toyama toured Toyama prefecture
recently, Masakazu was very moved to see the blue-eyed doll with her and wrote:
"Betty Roe and Miss Toyama … are standing side by side in an
exhibition. I wonder what they are talking about after 70 years?"