A Daughter of the Samurai

As the Title suggest, Etsu is the daughter of a clan leader and samurai, who following his support of the Shogunate during the Boshin War is striped of his status and left as merely an ordinary citizen. His family undergoes great change as he realises, they must adapt to the new way. His daughters, Etsu and her sister, take to the changes with enthusiasm as they see the world through there childish eyes, and all that is new is exciting to them. While her grandmother acts as a counterweight, portraying the connections to the old world, and a reluctance to change.

As she grows, her family is struck by tragedy as her father dies, leaving the family to the care of her long since separated brother. Upon his return, Etsu learns that she is to be married off, as was the custom of the time. Her husband to be is a businessman living in America. Desperate to give her the best chance to make a life for herself abroad, her family sends her to English school, and she becomes proficient in the language. Eventually she does move to the USA where she marries and starts a happy family having two daughters of her own. From here the book dives into her views of the West, and the drastically different culture to the one she was raised with. She undergoes more hardship, but also finds much joy, and in the end finds happiness in her life.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, this book’s is important to ones understanding of Japan during the 1870-80’s, not only for its close and personal view of life at that time but also from the perspective of a woman, who would’ve had little control of her own destiny.

Where this book falls short is its accounts of events prior to Etsu’s life, which are largely reminiscences of her family and are more or less unsupported. They view pre-western Japan through sentimental lenses which can easily give a false impression. Regardless, I do not feel this hinders the story in anyway, and where the book is most significant is in its ability to portray those emotions in a genuine way.