Fargo, North Dakota - 9 members of the Japan- America Cultural Exchange Society of Okayama and three members of the Okayama television and radio recently visited Fargo, North Dakota.
The friendship doll exchange of 1927 brought the Miss Okayama Doll from Okayama to North Dakota and the doll has been exhibited in the North Dakota State University doll collection.
Okayama’s cultural exchange society has renewed friendships with North Dakota when, on March 3, Vern Hunter and DiAnn Hunter of North Dakota met the JACES in Okayama to receive 15 Hina Dolls as a gift from the JACES to the Northern Plains Botanic Garden Society of Fargo.
One of the Japanese visitors to Fargo was Masaru Aoki, representative of the Yoshitoku Doll Company, that originally produced the majority of the Friendship Dolls in 1927 and was instrumental in restoring Miss Okayama recently to its original condition.
The JACES’s Executive Director Dr. Chikao Kawabata said the relationship between Okayama and North Dakota will continue.
The Hina Doll is currently on display at the Fargo West Acres Shopping Center for the remainder of October.
Northern Plains Botanic Garden Society of Fargo is planning a Japanese Garden.
