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Title: Daughters of the Samurai
Author: Janice P. Nimura
Genre: History
Thingummies: 4
Synopsis: As part of the Meiji Restoration, five girls are sent to America to learn how the West educates their women.
Thoughts: A fascinating glimpse into a little known corner of history.
Five young women, ranging in age from 19 down to 6, make their way with a Japanese delegation to Washington. But while the diplomats go home, the girls stay. Three of them effectively grow up American before being sent back to Japan, just as the backlash against Westernization begins.
This is a really interesting perspective on two cultures, seen through the eyes of a group of women who end up familiar with both but really belonging to neither. The girls have an amazing opportunity that also warps their relationships with their families and their own culture. In the end, they do somewhat achieve their goal, helping to shape Japanese education for women into the 20th century, but at personal cost.
Author: Janice P. Nimura
Genre: History
Thingummies: 4
Synopsis: As part of the Meiji Restoration, five girls are sent to America to learn how the West educates their women.
Thoughts: A fascinating glimpse into a little known corner of history.
Five young women, ranging in age from 19 down to 6, make their way with a Japanese delegation to Washington. But while the diplomats go home, the girls stay. Three of them effectively grow up American before being sent back to Japan, just as the backlash against Westernization begins.
This is a really interesting perspective on two cultures, seen through the eyes of a group of women who end up familiar with both but really belonging to neither. The girls have an amazing opportunity that also warps their relationships with their families and their own culture. In the end, they do somewhat achieve their goal, helping to shape Japanese education for women into the 20th century, but at personal cost.
