88th Birthday Celebration for Historic Japanese Friendship Doll 12/12
This event for children and families is included in regular museum admission.
Special activities include:
– Paper folding art with Linda Stephen Origami Art
– Japanese calligraphy with the Global Friends of Japan
– Paper doll activity to learn more about the traditional dress and accessories of Miss Mie
– “Friendship is…” writing activity. The notes will be sent to partner institution Mie Prefecture Japan at the close of the temporary Miss Mie exhibit.
– Birthday treats and remarks at 11:00am
Why celebrate 88? In Japan, 88 years (beiju,米寿) is called “rice age.” The number 8 (hachi, 八) is good luck because the shape starts narrow and becomes wider, a visual of expanding abundance. So 88 years is like living to infinity.
More About Miss Mie:
Miss Mie has been in the museum’s anthropology collections since 1928. The doll first arrived in the United States from Japan in 1927 when 58 friendship dolls were sent to the 48 states as gifts to American children as a gesture of goodwill in exchange for the American Blue Eyed Dolls given to the children of Japan in 1926. Small groups of these “goodwill ambassadors” traveled to 479 cities throughout the country that year. After the tour, some of the dolls found homes in museums and other institutions throughout the United States including the NU State Museum. In 2009, Miss Mie and her accessories were transported to Mie Prefecture in south-central Japan. Masaru Aoki, expert doll conservator from the historic Yoshitoku Co. in Tokyo, performed much-needed conservation work on the doll. After the repairs were performed, Miss Mie was the center of several events in Japan before returning to the museum’s anthropology collection in 2010.