Japanese Firm Stops Making Black Doll: A...

Japanese Firm Stops Making Black Doll: A Japanese toy maker said it will stop selling a black inflatable doll with big round eyes and a grass skirt, but the company denied it was acting because critics called the doll racist. Shusuke Kubota, a spokesman for Takara Co., said it also was discontinuing the use of the doll, named “Dakko-chan,” as its corporate symbol. Takara also makes “Transformer” robots that can be bent and twisted into other objects. Kubota said Takara’s decision to discontinue “Dakko-chan” had no connection with racial issues. “It’s not a black. It represents a Japanese child whose skin has darkened from being out in the sun all summer long,” he said.