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fachrinaa's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
What an extraordinary book from an extraordinary woman!
I had no idea who Etsu was - I bought the book because it was on sale and it sounded interesting. I'm so glad I did because this book is a revelation. Etsu lived during a time where rapid changes took place in Japan and in the world, and her life is a testament of the power of progress. She was the daughter of an impoverished samurai, who no longer had either the wealth or the status of his ancestors, but who instilled the old values in Etsu while allowing her to receive a relatively progressive education.
Her prose is vivid and beautiful, but above all it's full of compassion towards others and of the belief of a better, more understanding future. The America she wrote about provides a glimpse of what American could be.
It's also a complex text. The short chapters show the origin of this book as a newspaper column. Etsu was asked to write about her life for American audience, a fact that I believe we should keep in mind when reading the book.
The book ends when Etsu and her daughters were about to sail back to America to live with her adoptive Western mother. From the back cover and her wikipedia page, I know that Etsu eventually taught Japanese language and culture at Columbia University (what an achievement!) and that she passed away in 1950. I can't help but wonder how she felt about the events in 1940s: the racism and the internment. I saw that her daughter wrote a biography of her last years - I'm gonna search for that book now.
I had no idea who Etsu was - I bought the book because it was on sale and it sounded interesting. I'm so glad I did because this book is a revelation. Etsu lived during a time where rapid changes took place in Japan and in the world, and her life is a testament of the power of progress. She was the daughter of an impoverished samurai, who no longer had either the wealth or the status of his ancestors, but who instilled the old values in Etsu while allowing her to receive a relatively progressive education.
Her prose is vivid and beautiful, but above all it's full of compassion towards others and of the belief of a better, more understanding future. The America she wrote about provides a glimpse of what American could be.
It's also a complex text. The short chapters show the origin of this book as a newspaper column. Etsu was asked to write about her life for American audience, a fact that I believe we should keep in mind when reading the book.
The book ends when Etsu and her daughters were about to sail back to America to live with her adoptive Western mother. From the back cover and her wikipedia page, I know that Etsu eventually taught Japanese language and culture at Columbia University (what an achievement!) and that she passed away in 1950. I can't help but wonder how she felt about the events in 1940s: the racism and the internment. I saw that her daughter wrote a biography of her last years - I'm gonna search for that book now.
ipanzica's review
5.0
An interesting look into Japanese culture at the beginning of the 1900s. I really enjoyed experiencing the war between tradition and progress through someone who experienced multiple cultural via both immigration and growing up.
alyssa_dorene's review against another edition
5.0
This book was so fascinating! I loved learning more about older, traditional Japanese life as well as the culture shock of moving from this life to America. Then the subsequent culture shock of moving back to your homeland with your children who until then had only lived in America. Truly a wonderful read and the audio narration was great as well.
alundeberg's review
5.0
There should really be a sub-genre called the "time-travelogue" for books that transport the reader to the past and long ago ways of life. Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto's wise and poignant memoir "A Daughter of the Samurai" takes the reader back in more ways than one. Born shortly before Japan's Civil War that abolished the feudal, Samurai traditions and gave rise to the Meiji Restoration, Sugimoto experienced a life of constant transitions, and her tale is one of how to navigate change with grace and curiosity. Raised to be a priestess in rural northwestern Japan, she received both a boy's education and a girl's lessons in refinement. As she was arranged in marriage to a Japanese man living in America, her family realized that she needed a Western education and sent her to missionary school in Tokyo. Here she experienced her first culture shock of Japan's embrace of modernity and Western culture. In 1898, she left her family behind and traveled to Cincinnati to meet the man who would be her husband and be thrust into the American ways of life. There they raised two daughters. After his death, she took her children back to Japan, but this time seeing it with American eyes and having to navigate her old culture and traditions with her daughters whose heritage now spanned two countries. It is an illuminating and fascinating story. When I was growing up, I would always ask my Granny to tell me stories "from her brain" about growing up on a Nebraskan homestead. Reading Sugimoto's account fed that same need for me; it's a window into how life once was.
There is much about this book that is remarkable, but what really stands out is her desire to understand people. This did not come naturally to her at first. Coming from the slower pace of life bound by tradition and conservative values of rural Japan, she was taken aback by Tokyo's fast-pace and its people's open and free natures. Shy and reserved at first, she watched carefully and finally recognized the benefits their ways. She also learned that women there had voices and she learned to use her own. Once in America, which was Tokyo on steroids, she saw much more that confused and confounded her. Instead of clutching to her ways, she sought out similarities between America and Japan, often poking gentle fun at both. Instead of being fearful of losing her old ways, she realizes how her Samurai upbringing gave her the strength to bear the changes in her life and how understanding both cultures shows her the drawbacks and benefits of each. She is a keen, compassionate, and sympathetic observer and a model for how to move about in the world and how to maintain a sense of self while upholding traditions.
This is a deeply moving and inspiring work. I highly recommend.
There is much about this book that is remarkable, but what really stands out is her desire to understand people. This did not come naturally to her at first. Coming from the slower pace of life bound by tradition and conservative values of rural Japan, she was taken aback by Tokyo's fast-pace and its people's open and free natures. Shy and reserved at first, she watched carefully and finally recognized the benefits their ways. She also learned that women there had voices and she learned to use her own. Once in America, which was Tokyo on steroids, she saw much more that confused and confounded her. Instead of clutching to her ways, she sought out similarities between America and Japan, often poking gentle fun at both. Instead of being fearful of losing her old ways, she realizes how her Samurai upbringing gave her the strength to bear the changes in her life and how understanding both cultures shows her the drawbacks and benefits of each. She is a keen, compassionate, and sympathetic observer and a model for how to move about in the world and how to maintain a sense of self while upholding traditions.
This is a deeply moving and inspiring work. I highly recommend.
altlovesbooks's review
4.0
"Perhaps it would be better not to look back with such pride to a glorious past; but instead, to look forward to a glorious future. One means quiet satisfaction; the other, ambitious work."
Etsu grew up the daughter of a samurai at a point in time when samurai are no longer needed. Regardless, she grew up learning those ideals, and took them with her into adulthood and America. She had a remarkably pragmatic and insightful way of looking at the world around her, and it was really interesting to me to read her thoughts on her American way of life when compared with her Japanese upbringing.
She was educated (beyond what women in that period were), kind, and generous with those around her. I learned many things about Japanese history and folklore through the stories she'd tell her family and friends, and I loved her insight into things I wouldn't have considered. For instance, she told a story about how an American friend of hers had pretty rosary beads displayed next to an intricately carved Japanese backscratcher. The woman had no idea it was something so mundane, she saw it as an object of beauty and not a tool. Etsu likened its oddity to someone displaying the Holy Bible next to a toothbrush. I appreciated that honesty, and Etsu and the friend laughed about it together.
The really only strike I can give this book is that its rather mundane. There's no struggles or trials to overcome here, just a nice Japanese woman living a nice life and having good things happen to her as a result. Depending on what you're reading for, it might come off slow and boring to some.
Etsu grew up the daughter of a samurai at a point in time when samurai are no longer needed. Regardless, she grew up learning those ideals, and took them with her into adulthood and America. She had a remarkably pragmatic and insightful way of looking at the world around her, and it was really interesting to me to read her thoughts on her American way of life when compared with her Japanese upbringing.
She was educated (beyond what women in that period were), kind, and generous with those around her. I learned many things about Japanese history and folklore through the stories she'd tell her family and friends, and I loved her insight into things I wouldn't have considered. For instance, she told a story about how an American friend of hers had pretty rosary beads displayed next to an intricately carved Japanese backscratcher. The woman had no idea it was something so mundane, she saw it as an object of beauty and not a tool. Etsu likened its oddity to someone displaying the Holy Bible next to a toothbrush. I appreciated that honesty, and Etsu and the friend laughed about it together.
The really only strike I can give this book is that its rather mundane. There's no struggles or trials to overcome here, just a nice Japanese woman living a nice life and having good things happen to her as a result. Depending on what you're reading for, it might come off slow and boring to some.
starlings's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
4.75