Miss Oita

Original Name:
Miss Iwate
Personal Name:
Unknown
Artist:
Takizawa Kôryûsai II
Location:
Springfield Science Museum
City:
Springfield
State:
Massachusetts

Miss Oita is by the artist Takizawa Kōryūsai II. Her kimono crest is the nakakage 5-3 kiri (shaded 5-3 paulownia).

Although the general rule was for one doll to be supplied to each state, in order to recognize superlative participation in the original Doll Messengers of Goodwill Project in 1926, some states received multiple dolls. New York, Ohio, and California each received 3 dolls and Pennsylvania and Massachusetts received 2 dolls: Miss Kyoto-fu in Boston and Miss Oita in Springfield.

Interestingly, in the case of Miss Oita, it was initially thought best for her to be shared between two institutions: The Museum of Natural History in Springfield, which held a robust Japanese Girl’s Day celebration each year, and the Worcester Museum, about 40 miles east towards Boston. Ultimately, she was placed in Springfield, and only one loan to Worcester is recorded from October 1932-March of 1933.

Today Miss Oita resides in the Springfield Museums and retains a nearly complete set of accessories, missing only her US-made travel trunk.

Through archival images she has been identified as the original Miss Iwate.

Kimono crest:
Nakakage 5-3 kiri (Shaded 5-3 Paulownia)
Dogu (furnishing) crest:
Yaezakura (Double Cherry Blossom)
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