Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto
Encyclopedia
The Japanese autobiographer and novelist Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto(杉本鉞子) was born 1874 in the province Echigo in Japan
daughter of a karō
from Nagaoka
.
The breakdown of the feudal system shortly before her birth had a deep impact on the economic situation of her family.
Originally destined to be a priestess, she was then engaged, by an arranged marriage
, to a Japanese merchant living in Cincinnati, Ohio
. Etsu attended a Methodist school in Tokyo
as a preparation for her life in the USA. She became a Christian
. In 1898 she journeyed to the USA, where she married her fiancé and became mother of two daughters. After her husband's death she returned to Japan, but then went back to the USA to complete the education of her daughters there.
Later she lived in New York City
, where she turned to literature
and taught Japanese language
, culture and history at Columbia University
. She also wrote for newspapers and magazines. She died in 1950.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
daughter of a karō
KARO
KARO is a radio station licensed to serve Nyssa, Oregon, USA. The station is owned by the Educational Media Foundation.It broadcasts a Contemporary Christian music format as part of the Air 1 network.-History:...
from Nagaoka
Nagaoka
-Places:* Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan* Nagaoka-kyō, the capital of Japan from 784 to 794** Nagaokakyō, Kyoto, Japan, a city at the location of Nagaoka-kyō* Izunagaoka, Shizuoka, Japan, a former town in Izu Peninsula.-People:...
.
The breakdown of the feudal system shortly before her birth had a deep impact on the economic situation of her family.
Originally destined to be a priestess, she was then engaged, by an arranged marriage
Arranged marriage
An arranged marriage is a practice in which someone other than the couple getting married makes the selection of the persons to be wed, meanwhile curtailing or avoiding the process of courtship. Such marriages had deep roots in royal and aristocratic families around the world...
, to a Japanese merchant living in Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
. Etsu attended a Methodist school in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
as a preparation for her life in the USA. She became a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
. In 1898 she journeyed to the USA, where she married her fiancé and became mother of two daughters. After her husband's death she returned to Japan, but then went back to the USA to complete the education of her daughters there.
Later she lived in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where she turned to literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
and taught Japanese language
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, culture and history at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. She also wrote for newspapers and magazines. She died in 1950.
Works
- A Daughter of the Samurai (1925)
- With Taro and Hana in Japan (in cooperation with Nancy Virginia Austen 1926-09-23)
- A Daughter of the Narikin (1932)
- In memoriam: Florence Mills Wilson (1933)
- A Daughter of the Nohfu (1935)
- Grandmother O Kyo (1940)
- But the Ships Are Sailing (1959, by her daughter Chiyono Sugimoto Kiyooka, but adds biographical details of the last years of Madam Sugimoto's life)