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Learning to Shake Hands
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I looked forward to visiting Iai Asahioka Kindergarten in Hakodate City
since I spent two pleasant months in Hakodate studying Japanese in the summer
of 1998. This January I found out Iai Asahioka Kindergarten has a Blue-eyed
Doll named Allison from 1927. Tatsuya Matsuda in Kagawa Prefecture, who
researches the Blue-eyed Dolls throughout Japan, sent me a newspaper article
about the renaming of the kindergarten's doll in the fall of 2002 since the
original passport had been lost.
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Noriko Talking With Students
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When entering the school, I could see Allison prominently displayed in a
glass case next to an open area for playing and reading. A cute Japanese Ichimatsu
doll named Hotaru sat next to Allison. The Assistant Director of the
kindergarten explained to us the history of the school's Blue-eyed Doll. She
showed several of the children's drawings of Allison. The kindergarten still
has the original red dress and hat with lace trimming for the doll, but now
they are ragged and torn. Allison now wears a stylish dress and hat made by
hand a couple of years ago in a style and color similar to the originals.
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Hotaru (left) and Allison
(right)
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I the late morning the kindergarten's 120 students gathered in the
auditorium, where Allison and Hotaru were waiting for them on a table in
front. I spoke to the children about the six most popular holidays for
children in America--Valentine's Day, Easter, Independence Day, Halloween,
Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I explained that New Year's Day, the most
popular holiday for children in Japan, was not such a special holiday for
American children. My wife Noriko talked to the children with a Minnie Mouse
puppet from America. She then presented the children's book Don't Laugh at
Me on the overhead projector. I read in English, and one of the
kindergarten teachers followed with a Japanese translation. Noriko had done a
first draft of a translation of the book, and Iai Asahioka's teachers made
some changes to improve the translation before being read to the children.
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Drawings of Allison
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Near the end of the assembly the children sang the song "Blue-eyed
Doll." Next, four children presented to us various artwork made by
different classes. The artwork included the dolls Allison and Hotaru made of
origami paper with drawings of their faces on paper plates with ribbons for
hanging. The children also presented to us a photo collage of the school
activities of the three-year-olds and a poster with people and flowers around
a globe in the center. The teachers also gave us a decorative Japanese ball (temari).
After the assembly, we visited the classrooms, where the students were
eating delicious-looking bento box lunches with small portions of many
different types of food. The Assistant Director also gave me several
newspaper articles about Allison, which I used to create a web page about Iai
Asahioka Kindergarten's Blue-eyed Doll.
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