Diplomacy of Japanese dolls in the 19th and 20th centuries: Press, exchanges and exhibitions

Abstract

The moments of encounter between Japan and Spain have been many, as well as the objects which witnessed these exchanges. Exchanges that in 2018 celebrated their 150 anniversary. Among these objects we can find traditional Japanese dolls that were exported to Spain from the Meiji (1868-1912) and Taishō (1912-1926) eras , and that now, form part of the deposits of different public and private collections in Spain.

The objective of this article is to trace the history of the presence of this type of pieces in our country through the news that the illustrated magazines and the Spanish press give us throughout these 150 years of relationships referring to some diplomatic exchanges, the history and origins of these dolls, and some articles about exhibitions since the sources mentioned above inform us that traditional Japanese dolls have been the subject of a lot of exhibitions from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day and have been objects of study in articles and researches.

On the other hand, we also include some exchanges, most of them diplomatic, although we will include other equally interesting examples. As a cornerstone, we define the Friendship Dolls case and the exchange between Japan and United States to, later, write about other examples that took place in Spain, like Prince Chichibu’s wedding or the establishment of a sister city agreement between Pamplona and Yamaguchi. These are some examples where Japanese Dolls have been present.