Miss Gunma

Miss Gunma is by the artist Takizawa Kōryūsai II. Her personal name is Ueno Kinuko and her kimono crest is the sakura (cherry blossom).

She was originally placed at the Brooklyn Museum in early 1929. A clear image of her posed with all of her accessories in the Brooklyn Museum Quarterly for 1929 allows for identification of her kimono pattern as well as the accessory crests.

Miss Gunma was first noted as missing from the collection during research conducted for a large exhibition of Friendship Dolls in Tokyo in 1988. Her accessories and specialty gifts, however, remain in the Brooklyn Museum collection. 

Puzzlingly, she resurfaced in 2009 when she was listed for sale on Ebay through a vendor in Miami, FL who listed her simply as a “large Japanese doll.” She was sold to a buyer in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The astute buyer noted her size and quality and suspected that she might be one of the missing Friendship Dolls, and by removing her kimono he discovered the identifying Tokyo Wholesale Doll Traders’ Association label.

Through a comparison of archival images, she was subsequently identified as the missing Miss Gunma from Brooklyn; and was determined to be the original Miss Tottori.

In 2016 she was sold back to the US, and subsequently sent back to Japan for much needed conservation as well as the replacement of her proper right sleeve which was much damaged.

In 2017, Miss Gunma was placed at the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach, Florida where she remains today.