WAPAKONETA — The Auglaize County Historical Society and Riverside Art Center have collaborated on a special children’s art exhibit entitled Friendship Forever: Art from Saigo Elementary School. The exhibit will appear at Riverside Art Center, 3 W.Auglaize St., through Nov. 15. The event is free and open to the public. Riverside is open Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from noon to 4 pm, and Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm.
In March 2022 the principal of Saigo Elementary School in Toyohashi City, Japan, mailed a box of art prints to Wapakoneta Elementary School as a gift to the students here. Each grade had created its own design for the prints.
The unopened shipping box became part of a group of artifacts, including the Koneta Doll, described below, that Wapakoneta Elementary School gave to the Auglaize County Historical Society in late spring 2023.
When the Historical Society trustees opened the box, they discovered the beautiful art work, and approached Riverside Art Center about displaying the works so that the children and families of Wapakoneta and the area could enjoy the art. Riverside readily agreed, and has installed the art and related artifacts in the gallery.
“We at the Auglaize County Historical Society and Riverside Art Center hope that our residents will enjoy this sincere expression of friendship across the miles,” said Historical Society Director Rachel Barber.
The story behind the art exhibit: The Koneta Friendship Doll
In 1926, Dr. Sidney Gulick formed the Committee on World Friendship among Children and initiated a mission of friendship for American children to send dolls to the children in Japan.
Many Americans participated in the preparations to send 12,739 dolls to Japan. After numerous going-away parties, the dolls embarked on their long steamship journey.
When the American dolls arrived in Japan in early 1927, they were enthusiastically greeted by Japanese children. Elaborate ceremonies took place in large cities and small towns throughout the country, and each school receiving an American doll also held a special ceremony to welcome the doll to its new home.
Through the Presbyterian Missionary Society, Wapakoneta became one of the communities that sent a Friendship Doll, which was named Koneta after the town. She was sent to Saigo Elementary School, where she was proudly displayed for many years.
When World War II broke out, many Friendship Dolls in Japan were destroyed, because they were perceived to represent an enemy nation. The principal at Saigo Elementary told a teacher, Mr. Inagaki, to destroy the Koneta doll, but he secretly hid it in his home. When Mr. Inagaki was called up for military service, he feared that his family would suffer if the doll were found at their home, so he wrapped it in newspaper and hid the doll in the back of a closet at the school.
In 1987 the Koneta Friendship Doll was found and returned to a place of honor at Saigo Elementary. She made a return trip to Wapakoneta in January 1996, at which time Northridge Elementary School and Saigo Elementary School became Sister Schools. (Northridge and Centennial elementary schools were replaced by the current Wapakoneta Elementary School.)
Ultimately, two replicas of the Friendship Doll were created and one of the replicas was given to Northridge Elementary, “as a sign of the schools’ strong friendship.” Saigo also gave the local school a doll wearing traditional Japanese dress, as well as other items. The other replica is at the Saigo school, where children can see and touch the doll without concern for damage.
The Historical Society and Riverside are currently in the process of reconnecting with Saigo Elementary School.
