[Illustration: _Madame Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto_] A DAUGHTER OF THE SAMURAI BY ETSU INAGAKI SUGIMOTO INSTRUCTOR IN JAPANESE LANGUAGE AND HISTORY, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY _How a daughter of feudal Japan, living hundreds of years in one generation, became a modern American_ FRONTISPIECE BY ICHIRO HORI _SPECIAL EDITION_ PUBLISHED BY DOUBLEDAY, PAGE _&_ COMPANY FOR JAPAN SOCIETY 36 WEST 44TH STREET NEW YORK CITY ACKNOWLEDGMENT Much of the material of this book originally appeared in _Asia_ but has been thoroughly revised for book publication. COPYRIGHT, 1925, BY DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES AT THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N. Y. WITH RESPECT AND LOVE AND DEEPEST GRATITUDE I DEDICATE THESE SACRED MEMORIES TO MY TWO MOTHERS WHOSE LIVES AND ENVIRONMENTS WERE FAR APART, YET WHOSE HEARTS MET IN MINE ACKNOWLEDGMENT TO NANCY VIRGINIA AUSTEN Whose pleasant friendship, energetic spirit, and practical knowledge encouraged me to believe that a little Etsu-bo, with a heart full of love for old Japan, could gather the falling fragments of samurai spirit and weave them into a fragrant chain for the readers of to-day. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. Winters in Echigo 1 II. Curly Hair 11 III. Days of Kan 17 IV. The Old and the New 25 V. Falling Leaves 33 VI. A Sunny New Year 42 VII. The Wedding That Never Was 53 VIII. Two Ventures 61 IX. The Story of a Marionette 73 X. The Day of the Bird 87 XI. My First Journey 98 XII. Travel Education 107 XIII. Foreigners 118 XIV. Lessons 127 XV. How I Became a Christian 137 XVI. Sailing Unknown Seas 148 XVII. First Impressions 160 XVIII. Strange Customs 175 XIX. Thinking 187 XX. Neighbours 196 XXI. New Experiences 206 XXII. Flower in a Strange Land 221 XXIII. Chiyo 230 XXIV. In Japan Again 242 XXV. Our Tokyo Home 246 XXVI. Tragic Trifles 254 XXVII. Honourable Grandmother 262