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Miss Okinawa is by Ota Tokuhisa, whose artist name was Tokukyū. Her personal name is Okinawa Mariko and her kimono crest is the sasa rindo (bamboo gentian).
Miss Okinawa is one of the three dolls sent to Ohio in recognition of the state’s robust participation in the 1926 Doll Messengers of Goodwill project, which saw 12,789 small play dolls being sent to the children of Japan from the children of the United States. In Japan these dolls are referred to as aoime no ningyô or “blue-eyed dolls.” She is currently in the Cincinnati Art Museum. The other two Ohio dolls are Miss Osaka-fu in Columbus and Miss Gifu in Cleveland.
Miss Okinawa retains a full set of accessories, including not only her U.S.-made travel trunk, but also the wooden storage boxes originally used for shipping her lacquered accessories and tea sets, making this one of the most complete accessory suites for all of the friendship dolls today.
She returned to Japan in 1988 to participate in the important exhibition of Japanese Friendship Dolls and the American Doll Messengers of Goodwill. This event saw the gathering together of 19 of the Friendship Dolls and 34 of the “blue-eyed” dolls so treasured in Japan today.
Through archival photos Miss Okinawa has been identified as the original Miss Karafuto representing the colony of Sakhalin.