A Daughter of the Samurai

Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto (1874-1950) was a Japanese American novelist and autobiographer. Born in Echigo Province, Japan, she was the daughter of a once-prominent samurai whose fortunes turned with the end of the feudal era. After preparing for most of her youth to serve as a priestess, she was arranged to be married to a merchant living in Ohio. After studying at a Methodist school in Tokyo, she made the journey to the United States in 1898 to be married. Sugimoto returned to Japan following her husband's death to complete her daughters' education. She later moved to New York City, where she taught Japanese language and literature at Columbia University and published several novels and autobiographical works.