Earlier in their trip, during a visit with Takahashi and his family, Schiff had innocently asked Wakiko, “How would you like to come to America one day?” Takahashi and his daughter, however, took the pro forma invitation more seriously than Schiff realized. As Frieda Schiff recounted in her memoir, Takahashi appeared at Schiff’s hotel the following day, telling his friend: “My wife and I talked about your wonderful invitation to Wakiko. It is not customary for Japanese girls to leave home. But this is such an unusual chance, that we will be glad to let her visit you for two years.”
