from Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute Cultural
Center News, March and April 2000
Planting Seeds of Friendship |
Students enjoy the Japanese The dolls arrived at our school around Hina Doll Festival time in early March of 1998. One was a traditional doll in a bright crimson kimono, and the other was a rather big, cute hand-made doll in a simple blue kimono with a red sash and red ribbon on her head. I was so impressed that they came with passports with their names. The first doll's name was Kanae, and second one was Kana, named after the 11-year-old Japanese girl who made the doll with her mother's help.
The long journey of the dolls then began. They were taken to every class, and the children became good friends with Kana and Kanae. Toshiba International Foundation has sponsored our Japanese program and some 300 children from K to 3 have been learning about Japan. The program has expanded to other elementary schools. At Douglas, the first year our theme was Japanese houses, food, and clothes. In the unit on Japanese clothes, we studied kimono, showing our Friendship dolls. I put on a kimono and some children put on yukatas and walked on geta (clogs). The length of a real obi, sash, was a surprise. I can't forget the way the children said, "Cool!"
Another lesson was when the children watched the video The Blue-eyed Dolls. It tells about the 12,000 American dolls sent to Japan in 1927 and how they were welcomed and how many survived the war. There is a very touching Japanese song called "A Blue-eyed Doll" popular around 1910 which we sang together: A blue-eyed doll, made of celluloid*, was born in America. * dolls were made of bisque or porcelain The children also enjoyed a Japanese-doll making class. We made the project simple by giving the children a piece of paper cut in half and told them to design kimono cloth and color it. The children used gold and silver paint besides regular colors. We cut colored paper in half for the kimono and collar layers, and used beautiful origami for the obi. Although our lessons are usually just a half hour, the children were able to assemble their dolls in time. All the dolls were displayed in the school hallway and what compliments did we receive from everybody! The happiness and impact the Japanese Friendship dolls have brought to our school and the community is immeasurable. I would like to say again thank you to Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute for the dolls and the peace message they brought to us. Mrs. Takaoka told me in a letter, "How wonderful it is for you to be able to sow the seeds of friendship in the hearts of 300 children!" |
Reprinted with permission of Yoko Kiser and Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute