A Daughter of the Samurai – Memoir by Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto | Asian-American Classic

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📖 Book Description
“A Daughter of the Samurai” is the extraordinary memoir of Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto, a woman born into a traditional samurai family in 19th-century Japan who later became an immigrant in the United States. With remarkable sensitivity, Sugimoto recounts her childhood shaped by samurai values, the expectations placed upon women, and the dramatic cultural contrasts she experienced when crossing into the Western world.

More than a simple autobiography, this memoir reveals the clash and blending of two civilizations—East and West—through the eyes of a woman who lived between them. Her journey is one of courage, adaptation, and the search for identity, as she transforms from a dutiful samurai daughter into a pioneering Asian-American voice.

With an introduction by Christopher Morley and a foreword by Janice P. Nimura, this edition places Sugimoto’s life in a broader historical and cultural context, highlighting her importance as both a storyteller and a bridge between two worlds.

A timeless narrative about tradition, resilience, and self-discovery, this book stands as one of the earliest and most powerful accounts of an Asian-American woman’s life.