Visiting "dignitary:" Miss Toyama (shown in photo above) and Miss Shimame (not shown) are two 32-inch Japanese dolls that have not been together since their arrival in the United States in the 1920s. Miss Shimane is on loan to IUS from the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, and Miss Toyama crossed the Ohio River to come from the JB Speed Art Museum in Louisville. The original project, which made the dignitaries' trip across the Pacific Ocean possible, was the idea of Sidney Gulick, a missionary who had worked in Japan for more than 25 years. At that time, over two million Japanese children contributed one-yen coins (pennies) to a fund that made possible the 58 Japanese dolls created by the royal dollmaker of the Japanese Imperial Household.

The Misses Shimame and Toyama visit IUS

They're `sisters' reunited after a 70-year separation

Two tiny and beautiful women from Japan (they're dolls) have been visiting the IU Southeast campus this week. Miss Shimame and Miss Toyama, 32-inch dolls, are not young. They has been in the United States for 70 years. But they are still eye-catchers.

Miss Shimane is on loan to IUS from the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, and Miss Toyama crossed the Ohio River to come from the JB Speed Art Museum in Louisville.

The visit to IUS is important for the two "sisters" because they haven't been together since they arrived in the United States in the 1920s. They came to this country with 56 other dolls to thank Americans for an earlier gift.

The original project that resulted in the ladies' trip across the Pacific Ocean was the idea of Sidney Gulick, a missionary who had worked in Japan for more than 25 years. With the support of the United Federation of Churches in America, 12,000 dolls from this country were sent to Japanese children as a message of good will between the two nations.

In return, more than two million Japanese children contributed one-yen coins (pennies) to a fund that created the 58 Japanese dolls created by the royal dollmaker of the Japanese Imperial Household.

After arrival in this country, Miss Shimane was given to the Children's Museum, where she has resided ever since, keeping a low profile during World War II. Miss Toyama first lived at the Henderson Settlement School in Kentucky for awhile before moving to the Speed museum. She was believed to have perished in the 1937 flood, but was discovered 57 years later in a museum storage room, much the worse for her experience. She has been restored to her youthful splendor and is out in public again.

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