Japanese Friendship Dolls
Current Locations

Japan sent 58 Friendship Dolls to the US in 1927, but only 46 have been located after much searching during the last 20 years.  The 38 dolls in public museums or other public institutions are listed below.  Some dolls are not on permanent display to the public, so please contact the museum beforehand if you want to see a doll.

Known sources of information included in listing: Michiko Takaoka, Shibusawa Memorial Museum, Rosie Skiles, Judy Shoaf, Dolls of Friendship (1929).

Please click on the doll's photo or name for additional information.

	State	Name	Location
	Alabama	Miss Iwate	Birmingham Public Library
	Arkansas	Miss Kyoto-shi	Arkansas Museum of Discovery, Little Rock
	Arizona	Miss Kagoshima	Phoenix Museum of History
	California	Miss Taiwan	Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
	Connecticut	Miss Chosen	The Children's Museum, West Hartford
	Colorado	Miss Yokohama	Denver Museum of Miniatures, Dolls and Toys
	Washington, DC	Miss Japan	Smithsonian Institution
	Delaware	Miss Nagano	Historical Society of Delaware, Wilmington
	Georgia	Miss Nagoya	Atlanta History Center
	Idaho	Miss Nara	Idaho Historical Museum, Boise
	Indiana	Miss Shimane	The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
	Iowa	Miss Hokkaido	Putnam Museum of History and Natural Science, Davenport
	Kansas	Miss Miyagi	Private Owner
	Kentucky	Miss Toyama	The Speed Art Museum, Louisville
	Maine	Miss Yamagata	Maine State Museum, Augusta
	Maryland	Miss Hiroshima	Baltimore Museum of Art
	Massachusetts	Miss Aomori	Private Owner
	Massachusetts	Miss Kyoto-fu	The Children's Museum, Boston
	Massachusetts	Miss Oita	Springfield Science Museum
	Michigan	Miss Akita	The Children's Museum, Detroit
	Missouri	Miss Fukushima	Toy and Miniature Museum of Kansas City
	Missouri	Miss Shizuoka	Kansas City Museum
	Missouri	Miss Hyogo	St. Joseph Museum
	Montana	Miss Ishikawa	Montana Historical Society, Helena
	Nebraska	Miss Mie	University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Department of Anthropology
	Nevada	Miss Wakayama	Nevada Historical Society, Reno
	New Jersey	Miss Osaka-shi	Newark Museum
	New Mexico	Miss Yamaguchi	Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe
	New York	Miss Nagasaki	Rochester Museum & Science Center
	North Carolina	Miss Kagawa	North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences,  Raleigh
	North Dakota	Miss Okayama	North Dakota State University, Apparel, Textiles and Interior Design Department, Fargo
	Ohio	Miss Okinawa	Cincinnati Art Museum
	Ohio	Miss Gifu	The Cleveland Museum of Art
	Ohio	Miss Osaka-fu	Ohio Historical Society, Columbus
	Oregon	Miss Fukuoka	University of Oregon Museum of Art
	Pennsylvania	Miss Kochi	Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh
	South Carolina	Miss Saitama	The Charleston Museum
	South Dakota	Miss Tottori	Museum of the South Dakota State Historical Society, Pierre
	Washington	Miss Kantoshu	Rosalie Whyel Museum of Doll Art, Bellevue
	Washington	Miss Tokushima	Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, Spokane
	Wisconsin	Miss Ibaraki	Milwaukee Public Museum
	Wyoming	Miss Yamanashi	Wyoming State Museum, Cheyenne

Several Japanese Friendship Dolls are now in private collections such as Miss Miyagi.

In 1969, Hurricane Camille destroyed Miss Ehime, located in Gulfport, Mississippi.  In 1988, the school children of Ehime Prefecture collected money and sent a doll to replace the one that had been lost. However, Hurricane Katrina destroyed the new doll in 2005.

As a general rule, the Committee on World Friendship Among Children decided in 1928 that one Japanese doll ambassador would be located in each of the 48 states in existence at the time.  The following states received more than one doll:

• 3 dolls each - California, New York, and Ohio

• 2 dolls each - Connecticut, Massachusetts, Missouri, Oregon, and Pennsylvania

Most of these states took an especially active part in sending the American dolls to Japan. There is no record that New Mexico and Oklahoma ever received a Japanese Friendship Doll. Miss Japan went to Washington, DC.