Mini Book Review #19: Daughters of the Samurai: A Journey from East to West and Back, by Janice P. Nimura. A short-but-sweet review of this eye-opening biography of three young women from Japan.
Just a few years after the American Civil War and not long after Commodore Perry forced a trade agreement with isolationist Japan, 5 daughters of samurai were sent to America to be educated. Three of them stayed for a decade. This book follows their lives as half-American but still loyal Japanese.
This story completely surprised and engrossed me. Through excerpts of letters, we can almost feel the emotions of these young women who found themselves both strangers and yet at home in two very different worlds. A fascinating read for anyone who wants to know more about turn-of-the-century Japan. I think it helps readers understand the cultural differences of our countries historically. It also gives a totally unique view of the end of samurai life.
Daughters of the Samurai shows us three women who understood both Japan and America in ways no one else of their time could have.
Quotes from Daughters of the Samurai:
A quote about the old feelings towards change in Japan of the 1800s:
“”This is so strong that if your ancestors bid you to go by a roundabout way to go to a certain spot, even though you discover a route which goes directly there, you may not follow it. You must always follow the path of your ancestors.” Now foreigners with modern guns had forced the shogun from his ancestors’ path.”
The emperor of Japan, explaining his reasons for allowing women to be educated:
“How important the education of mothers, on whom future generations almost wholly rely for the early cultivation of those intellectual tastes which an enlightened system of training is designed to develop!”
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