A Daughter of the Samurai: How a Daughter of Feudal Japan, Living Hundreds of Years in One Generation, Became a Modern American

"The customs of all countries are strange to untrained eyes, and one of the most interesting mysteries of my life here is my own gradual but inevitable mental evolution."

-Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto, A Daughter of the Samurai (1926)

A Daughter of the Samurai (1926) by Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto is the insightful account of the author's drastic change of culture from feudal Japan to an arranged marriage in the United States. The story reveals her assimilation to life as a merchant's wife and her return to Japan as a widow and mother to two daughters. Sugimoto's keen observations of the American way of life and its sharp contrast to her native Japan provide a rich reading experience for anyone interested in gaining or deepening their understanding of living in two different cultures.