Essay: Japanese doll exchanges offer lessons on peace, understanding

Hirokazu Miyazaki, professor of anthropology, penned an essay for The Democrat and Chronicle in honor of an exhibition of Japanese dolls taking place a the Rochester Museum and Science Center on Sept. 30. He suggests Japanese doll exchanges offer important lessons about peace and understanding.

“In 1927, Sidney L. Gulick, a former American missionary, organized the delivery of more than 12,000 dolls from children in the U.S. to children in Japan. Three hundred of these – their clothing sewn by children and their families – came from Rochester schools and churches... these exchanges are not about the objects that change hands, as beautiful as they may be. They are about the giving and receiving – about the hopes, prayers, money, time, and labor it takes to animate the gifts and keep them going. That in itself is a form of peace.”

Continue reading the full essay here.