Tadaima: Bringing Seattle’s Boys’ and Girls’ Day Dolls Home

Opening February 14, 2026

MOHAI (Museum of History and Industry)

I have spent 2025 curating an exhibit and creating a commissioned painting that will be on view February to April 2026.  Image: Detail of Tadaima.

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About the exhibit:

In the spring of 1942, Japanese American families were forcibly removed from Seattle. They left behind homes, businesses, pets – and family heirlooms. Many of these treasures were lost forever. Others survived, but stayed hidden away in attics, churches, and hotel basements. Dozens of traditional Boys’ and Girls’ Day dolls, entrusted to the principal at Bailey Gatzert School, were never reclaimed after the war. In this exhibit artist Miya Sukune explores the journey these dolls have taken, reconnects them to Japanese tradition and the Japanese American community, and creates a space to welcome them home. 

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Remember (Day of Exile 1941)

Public art memorial sculpture to be installed February 2026 at Ober Park, Vashon. 

Unveiling event May 2026.

Thank you to the Sakai and Matsuda families for sharing their stories.

Support provided by T-Mobile Hometown Grant, Friends of Mukai, Vashon-Maury Heritage Museum and Vashon Park District.