Samurai and Cotton

About the Book

This is a story of two lives—that of a loving father and his headstrong daughter—in Japan and America. In the context of these two lives, this memoir takes on a historical journey through the world of the samurai as it transitions into the merchant class, culminating in the aftermath of the daughter’s decision to pursue her dreams to study in America.

Based on the true stories of seven generations of author Tomoko T. Takahashi’s family and centered around the life of her father, Kiyoshi, Samurai and Cotton reveals the struggles and triumphs occurring during tumultuous upheavals in Japanese culture at large and the much more personal trials of a single family. This memoir is filled with vibrant, heartfelt emotion and detail, buoyed by the revealing, authentic letters written by family members. While it focuses on the lifespan and memories of Kiyoshi, this is also the story of Tomoko, who receives indefatigable support from her father first as a headstrong youngster in Japan and later as a determined newcomer to America.

About the Author

Tomoko Takahashi was born in Japan in 1955; at twenty, she left her home for the United States. She received her BA in English from Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, Connecticut, and earned her doctorate in applied linguistics from Columbia University. She currently serves as the provost and vice president for academic affairs at Soka University of America in Aliso Viejo, California.

Dr. Takahashi has published more than twenty books, including scholarly books in English and Japanese on language learning, cross-cultural communication, and lexico-semantics; thirteen co-authored textbooks for Japanese learners of English, eight of which have been translated into Chinese and Korean; and Japanese translations of Rosa Parks: My Story, Quiet Strength, and Dear Mrs. Parks.