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Dolls from Japan were very popular in America and Europe through the late 19th and early 20th centuries. On these pages, I have collected illustrations and references that suggest the place of the Japanese doll in the minds of American and European children, and of the adults who bought them toys and moralized those toys.

Addition for 2011: a long article on "W. B. Yeats, Mabel Beardsley, and a Japanese Doll" (opens as a pdf file)
Addition for 2010: supplement to the article "Queer Dress and Biased Eyes: The Japanese Doll on theWesternToyshelf " by Judy Shoaf, Journal of Popular Culture 43:1 (February 2010), 177-195.	2010: Edith Scannell page.
Additions for 2005: Postcards, magazine illustration, ads Photos and book illustration	Additions for 2004

2003 website:. How Japanese dolls came to Europe and America Early photos of Japanese dolls 1904: Japanese dress-up from France 2.  Jappy Rhymes with Happy "Little Japs" and racism--a few literary notes "Jap" in 19th-century popular usage A Mirror of Women: The Japanese Woman as Doll "Jap" & Japanese-ness in advertising Japanese soap Japanese dolls in advertising 3. Japanese dolls and Christmas Christmas cards Japanese dolls in postcards and greeting cards Japanese dolls in "Japan" Multicultural Doll Families Japanese dolls in toys Japanese dolls in paperdolls 4. Japanese dolls in literature and on the stage Japanese dolls in popular music Shirley Temple's Japanese dolls Babe Ruth with a Japanese doll 5. Japanese dolls in magazine illustration Japanese dolls in prints and paintings 6. Japanese dolls as heroes of picture books Japanese dolls in poems Japanese dolls in book illustration Japanese dolls in Japanese fairy tales

Little Jap doll folder Japan-British Exhibition, London, 1910 The folder has the doll's back on the other side;  inside is a foldout of tiny photos of the exhibition.  This was the first piece of Japanese doll ephemera I found,  and my introduction to the term "little Jap."