Lessons we can learn from an exchange of dolls

In reaction to the current immigration ban, Hirokazu Miyazaki, professor of anthropology, writes this opinion piece in the Japan Times, telling the story of Sidney Gulick, who, frustrated with the immigration ban of 1924, decided to turn his attention to the next generation.

"Gulick, who had spent 25 years in Japan as a Christian missionary, arranged to have 12,000 dolls sent as gifts from American children to their Japanese counterparts," MIyazaki writes. "These 'blue-eyed dolls' were manufactured in U.S. factories and dressed in clothing made by hand by the children and their families. Gulick hoped they would foster friendship between the two countries’ future leaders.

"Over the last 40 years there has been a resurgence of interest in the doll exchange. Numerous voluntary associations have been formed to foster citizen-level exchanges between Japan and the U.S., including return visits by the Japanese dolls to the places they ostensibly come from."

Click here for full article in the Japan Times.