Daughters of the Samurai: A Journey from East to West and Back
By Janice P. Nimura
336 pages;
W. W. Norton & Company
The Epic, Real-Life Story
That Astonishes
Imagine being shipped out of your own country
at age 6—without a parent—and denied the chance to
decline the so-called opportunity. That's just what happened to a group of
Japanese girls, who were sent by their government, in 1871, to establish
themselves in America as Westerners. The plan? For them to return a decade
later and serve as an example for Japanese women, for whom education was a rare
thing, let alone an education abroad. Initially, the girls relied on each other
for comfort; when it became apparent that their mutual dependency was hindering
their integration, they were separated. For some, the challenge was too
great—two were sent home due to health problems and
homesickness—but three girls remained and were sent to live with
American families in Connecticut and Washington, D.C. There, they connected with their host families. The youngest, Ume, whose host mother
described her as a "sunbeam from the land of the rising sun,"
integrated especially well and grew up to attend such colleges as Vassar and
Bryn Mawr. Nimura's exhaustively researched historical biography is as
immersive as any work of fiction, heart-wrenching in its depiction of these
cultural orphans turned pioneers. "They had grown into women with the odd
ability to see their native land through foreign eyes," she writes.
"They were home, and yet at some deep level they would never cease to be
homesick." A book about such trauma may sound hard going, but readers
will find themselves wrapped up in the struggles of these young castaways and
will ultimately be rewarded by the triumphant story of their return
home—where little Ume would establish her nation's first English
school for girls.
— Julia Pierpont