Córki samurajów w podróży życia. Ze Wschodu na Zachód i z powrotem

by Janice P. Nimura, Barbara Gutowska-Nowak (Translator)

Trzy młode Japonki w podróży zmieniającej życie.

U schyłku XIX wieku, po długim okresie izolacji, Japonia otworzyła się na wpływy Zachodu. W 1871 roku do Stanów Zjednoczonych wysłano grupę japońskich dziewcząt z misją poznania obcej kultury, by po powrocie mogły przysłużyć się modernizacji ojczyzny. Po trudnym okresie adaptacji trzy z nich odnalazły się w nowej rzeczywistości.

Sutematsu Yamakawa, Shige Nagai i Ume Tsuda wychowywały się w tradycyjnych samurajskich domach, ale dorastały już jako amerykańskie uczennice. W krótkim czasie stały się niemal celebrytkami, a o ich podróżach po kontynencie i tradycyjnych strojach rozpisywały się gazety. Przyjaciele z nowego kraju pokochali je za błyskotliwość i pozytywne podejście do życia. Po dziesięciu latach wróciły do Japonii – miejsca już dla nich obcego – zdeterminowane, by zrewolucjonizować tamtejszą edukację kobiet.

Córki samurajów są historią odważnych dziewcząt, których losy splotły się z przemianami epoki Meiji. To porywająca, wielowątkowa opowieść o przełamywaniu barier i poszukiwaniu równowagi między dwoma światami.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Japan, Biography, Asia, Womens, Book Club

384 pages, Paperback

First published May 4, 2015

About the author

Janice P. Nimura received a Public Scholar Award from the National Endowment for the Humanities in support of her work on The Doctors Blackwell. Her previous book, Daughters of the Samurai: A Journey from East to West and Back, was a New York Times Notable book in 2015. Her essays and book reviews have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, Salon, and LitHub, among other publications.

Reviews

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

FASCINATING HISTORY REMARKABLY TOLD.

“A hundred years before ‘globalization’ and ‘multiculturalism’ became the goals of every corporation and curriculum, three Japanese girls spanned the globe and became fluent in two worlds at once—other to everyone except each other.”—Janice P. Nimura, Author’s Notes—location 6132

I don’t dare begin raving about this book for fear I won’t be able to stop. I loved it. Interesting, engaging, and illuminating; it’s now one of my all time favorite reads. Can I give it six stars?

Let me begin by lifting a quote from the goodreads/publisher’s synopsis that absolutely nails it for me: “…Daughters of the Samurai is beautifully, cinematically written, a fascinating lens through which to view an extraordinary historical moment.”

Born a samurai, raised an American teenager, she died a Japanese princess. Sutematsu Yamakawa was born in 1860, in feudal Japan, into a family of the samurai class who were soon to find themselves on the losing side in Japan’s transformational, civil upheaval. [Emperor replaces Shogun, samurai class diminished/eliminated, liberalization/reform reigns (at least for a little while).] She would grow up to become the first ever Japanese female to attain a four-year college degree: A graduate of Vassar College, class of 1882.

Less than thirty years after Perry’s gunboat diplomacy had proffered our pacific overture for open trade to Japan.

DAUGHTERS OF THE SAMURAI: A Journey from East to West and Back, by Janice P. Nimura, is largely Sutematsu’s story; the story of two other girls of Japan, Shige Nagai and Ume Tsuda, who also spent the years 1872-1882 in America, learning the ways and whyfors of the hairy barbarians; and so much, and some many, more. A story of a society, of a world, in major transition; and of three leading, albeit softer, lights in that transition. And it is an indescribably amazing read.

Recommendation: Read it now.

“Learn as if you will live forever; live as if you will die tomorrow.”—location 1823

Kindle edition, 336 pages/6,142 locations.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1871 five Japanese girls were sent by the Empire of Japan to the US to learn western ways so that they could return to Japan to educate women to be enlightened helpmates to their husbands. This is the story of the three who stayed in the US and received a full 10 year experience.

Janice Nimura begins with a description of how the Boshin War played out in individual lives and how families of the losing samurai were left to fend for themselves. Looking to modernize his country through western influences, the Emperor sent what came to be known as the Iwakura Mission to the US to renegotiate what was considered an unfair treaty and learn western ways. “Dozens of students would travel with the embassy. Why not include a few girls?” (p. 45). Families of “respectable” winners of this war would never permit their daughters to go, but for the losing samurai, there be one less mouth to feed.

After reading of their US experiences, you see the girls returning to Japan as the taste for things western has waned. Nimura shows the three different paths and how their US experience bonded them and set them apart. The most effected by the experience was the youngest, who arrived in the US at age 7. Upon return to Japan she had a fully western orientation and no longer spoke Japanese.

One by-product of this work is its addition to the literature on the introduction of English language instruction in Japan. The Native American in the Land of the Shogun: Ranald MacDonald and the Opening of Japan chronicles an epic journey from the Pacific northwest to Japan just before the seclusion ended. In his Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa, Fukuzawa writes of the danger of teaching English in the period of these samurai daughters - the years of the backlash against western ideas.

Another by product of this important, and overlooked episode, in the opening of Japan, is its recount of early feminist thinking both in the US and Japan.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was intrigued when I first heard of this book because the subject ties in with my interest in the early history of women's colleges in the US. Two of the three Japanese girls whose lives are chronicled here, who were plucked from their families at a very young age, and sent across the sea to an unknown land to learn Western ways, ended up attending Vassar, and one, Ume Tsuda, went to Bryn Mawr. Long ago, in a photographic history of Bryn Mawr, I'd seen a photograph from the 1880s of Ume reading, sitting in a rocking chair in a typically appointed (for the time) dorm room. When reading Nell Speed's Molly Brown series published in the 1910s, and encountering the fictional Japanese student Otoyo, I wondered if maybe there was a connection -- perhaps Speed had read of there being a Japanese student studying at the sort of women's college she was trying to depict in her series? I guessed that such a student at that time was likely to be rather singular (but just how singular I had no idea!) Anyway, despite this interest, I didn't immediately rush out to acquire a copy of Daughters of the Samurai, because I had a preconceived idea that I would find the parts of it not dealing directly with the 19th century women's college experience to be rather dry. But oh my goodness how wrong I was. This book, start to finish, was just a really good read. Of the sort where you find yourself thinking "oh dear, I'm reading too fast, I'd better slow down so I can enjoy it longer." Of the sort where when you put it down in an unusual place in the house you wander around in great distress because you can't find it and you're really anxious to pick it up again. The parts of the women's lives before and after their American sojourn were just as absorbing to me as the accounts of their college years. Nimura was able to draw on huge numbers of letters the women wrote back home to their American friends once they returned to Japan, and so shows their feelings and experiences with great vividness. The irony of their situation was that, having spent ten of their most formative years living as Americans, their return "home" was a second plunge into an unfamiliar culture -- and one that didn't quite welcome them with open arms, the urge to emulate all things Western having waned in their absence. Each one of the three forged her own path, but they always had a tight bond with each other, as the only members of a "country of three." This book was wonderful -- I learned a lot (so painlessly!) about the history of 19th century Japan, and US/Japan relations, through the lens of the intimate and fascinating story of these women and their friendships.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's rare that I give up on a book with only 40 pages left to go, but I had gotten so incredibly bored with the writing style and the content that I skipped over to the last chapter and, with a great sense of relief, slammed the book shut.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating story of 3 young women who left Japan in the 1870s, were educated in the US, and returned to Japan after 10 years. It touches on so many issues: American culture, Japanese culture as it was shortly after a long period of withdrawal from the western world, feminism, friendship, politics, education and much more.

[Elizabeth S · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was incredibly interesting, and I definitely recommend it.

Despite that enthusiastic review, I'm only giving it 3 stars because, despite how fascinating it was, Daughters of the Samurai wasn't necessarily gripping or edge of your seat historical reading material. To be fair, this story isn't the type you would expect to turn into some sort of wild, epic tale. However, while well-written, this book didn't have a tone that makes you want to never stop reading. It makes you curious to learn more and see where the story goes, but it's not insanely captivating.

Nimura recounts the tale of five Japanese girls who went to study in America. As an American, I will say these are the sorts of stories I find sorely lacking when we're taught history. If anything, we get to hear about Americans going abroad, but not the other way around very often.

So, I was pleasantly surprised to find this book, and I was happy with the amount of research and detail Nimura included in a relatively short work.

Daughters of the Samurai recounts this journey, beginning with details of the girls' lives before they embark on their trip - which I found provided valuable insight, especially in case readers aren't familiar with Japanese culture in the late 1800s - and carrying years after they return to Japan.

It was so interesting to not only learn about how the girls (particularly Sutematsu, Shige, and Ume, who get the most focus) slowly adapted to Western life, but also to see how they had to then readjust upon returning to Japan years later. After all they had experienced, the young women were then expected to go back to being judged by the standards of a homeland they hadn't lived in for years.

This dichotomy was wonderfully explained by Nimura, and I particularly enjoyed seeing the contrast between Sutematsu and Shige's marriages and Ume's school.

Since I'd rather not spoil the details of their stories, I'll leave my review here, simply to say that I would suggest this book to anyone with an interest, with the slight warning that it may take them a while to get into it (or that they may breeze through it, as I did, because there didn't seem to be a lot to force me to slow down and savor each page). I think Nimura does a great job giving these young women's tales credit, opening our eyes to histories we may not otherwise know.

[Julia Hendon · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1852, the United States engaged in gunboat diplomacy against Japan to force it to open its borders to Western trade. In the aftermath of this event, the Tokugawa shogunate was overthrown in a kind of civil war, leading to increased power for the emperor and the remaking of much of Japanese politics. Initially the new government was eager to Westernize. Among the issues raised was the role and status of women. In order to create a better educated and forward-thinking cadre of women, who would therefore be better mothers and wives, the Empress sponsored five girls to accompany the first diplomatic mission to the U.S. This book tells their story. Nimura, an American married to a Japanese, has a great deal of sympathy for the girls who find themselves caught between two worlds in both directions as it were. Two of the girls are around ten and the third is about six when they arrive in California not knowing any English. Sent to live with host families in Connecticut and Washington, they spend a decade becoming Americanized, making friends, and attending college. Then it is back to a Japan which has in the meantime become somewhat disenchanted with the West. Once strangers abroad the young women are now strangers in their own land. Nimura takes us through their lives in the US and Japan with grace and insight.

[Bookworm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seemed fascinating but it didn't live up to its potential In 1871, 5 Japanese girls were sent to the US to live and learn among the citizens there and receive a Western education. Only three actually went through with it. Author Nimura follows these young women as they navigate the fall of shogun, moving to a strange country where they don't know the language, customs or much else and how they manage when they finally return to the US.
 
It sounded like a really fascinating premise, but unfortunately it was a really tedious read. Initially I enjoyed it: the author takes us through the civil war that brought down the shogun and the history of Japan surrounding that time. It was very interesting to see the rather violent opening of Japan to the West (something I know very little about). However, once we follow these young women (girls at the time, really) in the US, it just wasn't as interesting.
 
Although some of the details (learning English, how to keep up their Japanese, learning US customs, their education, etc.) were all fascinating, it also got really "Then they did X and then Y and then Z. It was a very dry retelling overall. I felt it picked up again when the young women return to Japan and must readjust to living among the Japanese, relearning the customers, coping with the changes in themselves and with their families/homes.
 
As a history of a very specific event and lives of these young women, it was certainly interesting. But it was a drag to get through. The author is actually US-born and married into a Japanese family so it's not a matter of translation (I don't think). The writing just wasn't interesting, but anyone with an interest in Japanese/US relations, this particular time period or in this topic would probably find it a good reference.

[Noreen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Janice Nimura: Explains my grandfather Buhachi Nishimura (1881-1938) expectation for my mother Yukie born in 1922 in Raymond Alberta Canada to go to medical school. He and my grandmother (Ichikawa) were from Tokyo.

My grandparents taught my mother to read and write Tokyo Japanese. In 1970s I would pick up Japanese hitchhikers in SLC Utah carrying signs heading I-80 East with San Francisco, I would pick them up and take them to my apartment for lunch and a shower. I didn’t speak Japanese. I called my mother to talk to them, and they would bow on the phone. Afterwards they would say “Your mother speaks good Japanese.”

My mother said that her dad came to British Columbia as a lumberjack because he was not the oldest son. A Japanese “remittance” man. Her parents were both Meiji “followers”.

Your quick thumbnail of Japan from Perry up to WWII is wonderful.

Page 43 On an early trip to US Kiyotaka Kuroda was astonished by American Women. At home, women of his rank stayed out of sight; tea houses and reception rooms where men transacted business were strictly off limits. Samurai wives sewed, served, bore children, and managed households for their husbands, who spent their leisure hours in the pleasure quarters, enjoying the attentions of a different sort of woman, trained in music, dance and
sparkling conversation rather than domestic arts. Women were obedient or entertaining; beyond that they were unimportant.
But these American women! They had opinions, which they didn’t hesitate to offer—and the men listened. They joined their husbands at social gatherings and official ceremonies. They presided at table. Men gave up their seats for women, doffed their hats to them, made way for them on the sidewalk, fetched and carried for them. In public. Clearly, American women had a happier lot than their Japanese sisters. Why?

The answer, Kuroda concluded, was education. American women of the higher classes were well-informed and well-read,and though they nature did not aspire to lead businesses or armies, they were the intellectual companions of their husbands and sons, who turned to them not just for practical needs, but emotional and spiritual strength.

Surely this rich home life a trip to US helped explain the staggering successes of America in industry and commerce.

Kuroda drafted a memorandum to the Meiji government. The first thing to do, he wrote, was to educate Japanese women, who bore responsibility for the first decade of their children’s lives. Educated mothers would raise enlightened sons, who would then grow up to lead Japan,”as a little leaven leavens the whole lump.” Unwritten, but perhaps implied, was a warning:as long as the Japanese kept their women in the shadows, Westerners would have trouble recognizing Japan as a civilized nation.

Educated young women would make excellent wives for the new statesmen of Japan as they emerged onto the global stage.

In fall of 1871, the Iwakura embassy was planned. Dozens of students would travel with the embassy. Why not add a few girls?

Thank you Kiyotake Kuroda….and Janice Nimura.

Although other Japanese families were educating their children, through various missionaries, this was the first government sanction of education for females.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating book on a story I knew nothing about. This book follows three daughters of samurai as they are sent to study in America during the transitional period of 19th century Japan. My favorite parts of this book are the opening sections that outline the Japanese history of the closed world of the samurai, and the last sections that deal with the return of the girls to Japan and how they deal with their post-American lives. Highly recommended to see the cultural differences between 19th century America and Japan and to read about three impressive and accomplished women during an age where women were not always allowed to reach great heights in either society.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dull, boring, shall I go on?

[katelyn]

read this for my japanese imperialism senior seminar in less than 24 hrs so like many thoughts head full brain empty. off to write 800 words about it in an academic context <3

[Donna Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book as a gift from my cousin Wes, who was no doubt thinking of my own marriage to a Japanese citizen; and yet after 125 pages of well documented but glacially paced prose, I am ready to throw in the towel.

The story is nonfiction, and it is based on the lives of three women--originally five, but two withdraw--that are sent as girls to the US after Admiral Perry forces his foot into the closed door that was Japan in the pre-Meiji era. The general historical facts as they are laid out are well written for the lay reader. I knew these things already, but a review doesn't hurt.

But the first 100 full pages are devoted to a description of the many entertainments and gatherings that included the men in the delegation while the girls were sequestered, not allowed by their chaperones to be seen (according to the Japanese tradition at the time; call it culture if you feel like it, but it was oppression, not that the Japanese had that market cornered.) So if the book is about the women, why could this whole mess not have been condensed to a briefer passage? Is it because there's not enough material at the end to meet the number of pages expected, or is it just a longwindedness born of the desire to not let any research go unreported? I will never know. I have been a good cousin and given this work a fair chance; my beloved cousin is becoming forgetful with age and probably won't remember to ask me what I thought of this book anyway. I am free, and I am done.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never learned about the Meiji Restoration in school, and I feel mildly cheated because of that (be better, Abeka) because it is one of the more significant events in world history. This book is a fantastic overview of the Restoration, covering one of the more bizarre stories to come out of it. Like really, let's place our country's educational future in the hands of a few young girls, said no one ever. Nimura does a fantastic job at this book. The writing is adequately researched and supported, and the story is exciting, which cannot be said for most history books.

[Painting · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book partly because it is based on correspondence and notes which also made it a little bit stilted because of the "proper" kind of writing of the time period.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

DotS has some great strengths: the stranger in a strange land story (their 10 year experience in America) followed by the stranger in a strange land story (their return to Japan). The concept itself is fascinating - three young girls are volunteered to go to a foreign country in 1871 with no knowledge of its language and customs and charged with the responsibility of learning about this country and educating their fellow citizens when they return. Their path is completely uncharted. And because they were so young when they left Japan and then spent 10 years in America they struggle with the language and customs of their native country upon their return and are never completely Japanese again.

Also, the changing cultural landscape during their return to Japan was excellent too. Without going into the particulars the timing of their return was quite bad and it made for an interesting story arc.

Less successful were the opening chapters of samurai/shogun Japan. It felt like it was written some 150 years ago during the era it described. Also less successful were the interludes in America, and to a lesser degree, Japan. They're interesting at first but fall into a tedious sameness. It felt stretched out as a way of creating space between the two main stories.

Ume (the youngest and smallest) rightfully gets the spotlight. Her story is the most transformative (although Shige and Sutematsu have very good stories as well) and there's probably more information about her from the sheer volume of letters she wrote to her American guardian Mrs. Lanman.

Alice Bacon was absolutely remarkable and although the author did a good job of telling her story I wish she had provided even more.

All in all it's a good book and if you can get past the stretches of sameness I referenced earlier it's worth the time to read.

[Iva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three Japanese young women came to America in the late 19th century completely on their own. They were only 6, 10, and 11, and expected to return to their Meiji-era Japan with an ability to share what they absorbed. They stayed ten years and became fluent in English; the youngest knew no Japanese when she returned. The author, married to a Japanese man, lived in Japan for two years after her marriage and did extensive research on the girls lives in America. There is a brief background on Japanese history, then the book concentrates on the girls adjustment to American customs, food, and schooling. The most impressive story is of Sutematsu who graduated from Vassar, the first Japanese woman to earn a bachelor's degree. This is a fascinating reading experience of three young women who subsequently returned to Japan to share their unique American experience.

[Laura Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author follows a group of girls sent from Japan to the US in the late 19th century. After completing a Western education in the early days of Vassar college, they return to Japan and struggle with cultural differences. The book was interesting, but rather dry. Much of the book appeared to be constructed from letters written by the girls. There is some discussion about the role of women in society and the purpose of education. The women are from a different era, with more modest goals than modern women. Feels like going back in time and sometimes hard to relate to the thinking of the women on issues such as career ambitions, versus family obligations and duty to country.

[MIL · Rating 4 out of 5]

五位跟著岩倉使節團赴美留學的女生的故事
選的要不是幕府方的戰敗藩國武家女兒
要不就是本來家中就有留學經驗的人

五個裡只有三個留下來取得大學與高中學位
(那年頭就算是美國女人有高中學位也很了不起了)
三位裡真正對女性教育有重大貢獻的只有津田梅子
益田繁雖然是教師但不像津田梅子有辦學的志向
山川捨松成了華族貴婦之後有志難伸
算起來留學成功率只20%
而且明治政府只覺得也該派女性出國留學
真的派出去了就當沒這回事了
岩倉使節團不知道如何照顧十幾歲乃至六七歲的少女
明治政府不知道他們取得學位回國後該怎麼重用
事實上要不是這些女子極力謀取
政府根本就不想用他們

有意思的是以前在課本上學到的
都以為明治維新脫亞入歐雷風厲行
書裡卻呈現了這三位女子十年留學歸國���
國內的風潮卻開始反撲西化
以致本來很潮的西學一時間無用武之地了

同一時間的大清看見日本派出一堆留學生
也跟風派了不少
但比起日本還想到要派女子
大清根本連讓出洋學生念完書都不肯就了事了
活該甲午要戰敗啊~

明治維新至今一百五十週年
日本的女權還是普普通通稱不上好
不知這些前輩的理想究竟達成了幾分呢?

翻譯有許多小錯誤
譬如公制英制搞混
把一戰當二戰之類的
不曉得是編輯校對沒作好還是譯者失察
但整體來說文句還算流暢
看不太出什麼大錯

[Deodand · Rating 3 out of 5]

These girls were essentially pulled in by forces beyond their control, and subjected to the whirlwind for the rest of their lives. Fortunately things turned out relatively well, partly because they had good instincts and intelligence. I also noticed how the women were protected and uplifted, but also limited by norms.

I liked it but it didn't pull me in the way I expected it to.

[Yvette Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book provided me an educational journey with three fascinating women. I had never heard their names before I turned the first few pages of the book, but because of the richness of the author's language and the depth of her research, I will never forget them.

[lorelei · Rating 3 out of 5]

honestly very boring and long, a hint of a plot that was lost in lengthy and unnecessary descriptions. follows the story of interesting and inspiring people but not worth the effort of reading.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, my positive review disappeared. Maybe I will try to recreate when I return home.

[Sandra || Tabibito no hon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Myślę, że to książka obowiązkowa dla wszystkich zainteresowanych Japonią.

Będę szczera, kiedy miałam się za nią zabrać nie byłam gotowa na coś ciężkiego, wobec czego odłożyłam ją w czasie, ale moje obawy były zbędne, ponieważ to jest aż niepoprawnie lekkie biorąc pod uwagę tematykę 😂

To pozycja o zmianach jakie zaszły w Japonii i wpływie zachodu na Kraj Kwitnącej Wiśni. Dostajemy tu dużo historycznych wstawek i dla mnie to była ta najlepsza część, zwłaszcza, że mogłam pod nosem mówić "o, to wiem", "o, to też wiem!" 😜 NA COŚ PRZYDAŁO SIĘ TO WKUWANIE NA EGZAMIN 👀

Nacisk w tej książce nałożony jest na kontrast między znaczeniem kobiety w Japonii i na zachodzie w tamtejszym okresie.

Autor postawił też na bardzo szczegółowe opisy otoczenia by z tej książki wychwycić jak najwięcej. Czasem faktycznie wgłębiałam się w nie z zainteresowaniem, czasem odpływałam myślami, bo to było dla mnie zbyt wiele. Jest tu też bogata bibliografia, fragmenty listów i artykułów, co pozwala mocniej wczuć się w tamten okres.

Czytając czułam się jakbym słuchała opowieści kogoś zafiksowanego, co zawsze jest miłe w odbiorze. Ma też ironię i cięty humor, gdy trzeba I BARDZO MI SIĘ TO PODOBA.

Podsumowując: jeśli ciekawi Cię Japonia - czytaj to! Jeśli nie, to ja bym chyba odpuściła, bo nie wyobrażam sobie bym miała być tak zainteresowana analogiczną książką związaną z państwem, które mnie nie fascynuje, ale kto wie, może tylko ja tak mam 😜

Ode mnie 8/10 ⭐ Moim zdaniem jest świetna 🫶🏻

[Alethia]

Sometimes I wonder how the idea of female equality ever was invented. Obviously there was a point where the two sexes were equal, but after a long period of stagnant imbalance, it still surprises me when the moment is chosen to say 'enough is enough'. In this book, it wasn't even that attitude, but something of a curious accident. Still, with just three girls coming back to Japan with an American education, they were able to make a big impact--in different degrees, obviously, but truly shaking up some Japanese foundation.

I don't know if it's wrong to feel so bothered by it, but even though the program the girls were in helped to elevate the position and ambitions of more Japanese women, I truly hold myself back from calling it an accomplishment. I wish it had been a Japanese effort, something internal and entirely their own, instead of this Western concept thrust upon them by upper class Japanese girls raised by rich white American families. Female empowerment is always good, but when it's tinged by Western encroachment, can it be considered real?
Maybe it's a stupid question. Japan did consciously decide to empower its females. However, it was a Western movement, not a Japanese one, and the choice had not been given to its participants--the women did not rise up on their own. However, they did take hold of their own destinies to some degree.

What I'm trying to say is that there is a lot here. It's a well-written book and pretty interesting. I'm still forming my opinion on the historical events themselves, but I enjoyed the book.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fascinating, true story about five Japanese girls, including a six-year-old, sent to the US during the Meiji period to learn the English language and Western ways and report back to Japan to help their country better compete in the world. Thanks to many saved letters and incredible research, we learn about the girls' lives in Japanese history, their shock of being delivered to a foreign land, their assimilation (or not), their return to a country they no longer fit in with, and what they did with the knowledge they had acquired and their dreams of helping to educate Japanese women in a male-dominated culture. This book is more like a documentary, and can begin to feel tedious due to so much detail about the girls'/womens' lives and thoughts. Recommended for serious readers who enjoy history, especially women's history, and cultures. Kudos to the author for gathering all this information to document and save this astonishing piece of Japanese-US-women's history.

[Diego Dotta · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last sentences gave me goosebumps. The impact of those women in the japans education was impressive. The research was incredibly good. I’m glad she found all the women’s letters and diaries.

It wasn’t a easy book to read. I found the pacing a bit slow, and the narrative could have been tightened in places.

While the book is a historical account, it also serves as a reflection on gender roles, cultural exchanges, and the constant tension between tradition and progress. It’s a worthwhile read for those interested in history, gender studies, and cross-cultural narratives.

[Lisa Ard · Rating 5 out of 5]

So interesting and well written! I knew very little about the opening of Japan in the mid 19th century and nothing about the Japanese government sending five girls to America in 1871 to learn western ways. They returned home ten years later to guide the future of Japanese women. Only they didn’t remember their homeland or speak the language well. The country’s turn to the west took an about face. The customs and social norms stifled the young women. Yet each found a way to make a difference. Inspiring, deeply researched, and insightful to the Japanese people today.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

What were they thinking??? In 1872, five little girls trailed along with a Japanese delegation sent to the United States to study there and bring innovation and culture back home. They ranged from 7 to 16, spoke not a word of English, and were expected to stay for ten years. The stunning thing is that three of them succeeded beautifully, becoming champions for women's education in Japan. A fascinating and well-written account of Meiji-era reforms and three brave women.

[Missy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jane Nimura tells the meticulously researched story of three women who were at the beginning of great cultural change in Japan at the turn of the century. Extra nuggets include the author's note, explaining her personal interest in the story, and the research notes at the end of the book.

Nimura strikes a delicate balance as she describes two radically different cultures at a point in history that is very far removed from our modern experiences, particularly as women. I appreciated that she treated each culture and the social sensibilities of the time with great respect. Ultimately, Daughters of the Samurai is a story of faithful friendship, and I'm glad I got to hear the tale.