Daughters of the Samurai Quotes

“But these American women! They had opinions, which they didn’t hesitate to offer—and the men listened. They joined their husbands at social gatherings and official ceremonies. They presided at table. Men gave up their seats for women, doffed their hats to them, made way for them on the sidewalk, fetched and carried for them. In public. Clearly, American women had a happier lot than their Japanese sisters. Why? The answer, Kuroda concluded, was education.”
― Janice P. Nimura, Daughters of the Samurai: A Journey from East to West and Back

“The only qualities that befit a woman are gentle obedience, chastity, mercy, and quietness,”
― Janice P. Nimura, Daughters of the Samurai: A Journey from East to West and Back

“Even a diamond, if not polished, will fail to shine;
People, too, unless they study, will not demonstrate true virtue.
If one is diligent every moment all day long,
Like the hands of a clock that move without pause
What is there that will not be achieved?”
― Janice P. Nimura, Daughters of the Samurai: A Journey from East to West and Back

“Perhaps I am counting the chickens before they are hatched and building castles in the air. Still it is pleasant to think about it when there is no harm done by it.”
― Janice P. Nimura, Daughters of the Samurai: A Journey from East to West and Back

“To those who ask of Tonami in the north, tell them this;
It is a land before human time.”
― Janice P. Nimura, Daughters of the Samurai: A Journey from East to West and Back

“But in spite of many travelers and numberless books and lecturers, only a few Americans know truly what Japan is.”
― Janice P. Nimura, Daughters of the Samurai: A Journey from East to West and Back

“The customs of all countries are strange to untrained eyes. —ETSU INAGAKI SUGIMOTO, A Daughter of the Samurai, 1926”
― Janice P. Nimura, Daughters of the Samurai: A Journey from East to West and Back

“Travel in foreign countries, properly indulged in, will increase your store of useful knowledge,”
― Janice P. Nimura, Daughters of the Samurai: A Journey from East to West and Back