The Friendship Dolls were a project of Dr. Sidney Guliek and the US–Japan Friendship Commission to promote good will between the two countries. Each doll represents a city or a prefecture in Japan, and came equipped with her own passport and accessories. The dolls arrived by boat in San Francisco in late 1927, then took a tour of the United States, ending with a celebration in New York City before settling into their homes in each state in the country. Miss Kyoto came to Boston Children’s Museum and has been a star of the collection ever since.

Children in Kyoto wrote letters to the children of the United States to accompany the dolls.  Here is one of the letters that came with Miss Kyoto: