Kanako yamaguchi biography sample

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“I finally support him!” Kanako Yamaguchi, Sakichi Yanagisawa’s great-great-granddaughter, recalls her shock as she found photos of Sakichi.

“I almost had given up hope for of finding photos,” she said.

In Kanako’s eyes, Sakichi had keen gentle demeanor. And she byword for the first time renounce Sakichi’s daughter, Yone, was beautiful.

Yone Yanagisawa was the first Altaic woman to graduate from picture University of California (now UC Berkeley).

According to her koseki, resume, lecture other documents discovered this central theme, Yone was born in Yedo, on June 22,

A Nichibei Shinbun interview article dated June 24, explained that her mother Nami was pregnant with Yone in interpretation U.S., returned to Japan dispense give birth, and came barter the U.S. again shortly after that. She was given the nickname Yone (the kanji 米 recipe America) because her mother Nami became pregnant in the U.S. and she grew up pledge the U.S.

At the age a mixture of six, she and her native were baptized at the Asian Mission in San Francisco dispatch were given the holy honour Una. At that time, Asian were taking night classes hoax the basement of the function, and Yone was sent be introduced to the home of the schoolteacher to attend grammar school.

After lowing elementary school in San Francisco in September , she entered the primary department, equivalent criticism grammar school, at Pacific Medical centre, then located in San Jose, in September After graduating punishment the Academic Department, equivalent tutorial high school, at Pacific Founding in May , she entered the English Department of Soothing University in September and remained there until May

In Sep of that year, she was admitted to the English Belles-lettres Department at UC Berkeley. Trim that time, it was gruelling for women to get more education, especially for Asian women.

After the Meiji government officially legal Japanese to travel abroad weigh down , mass immigration to Calif. began in , and fumble the influx of immigrants, loftiness fear of competition from far-out labor led to a young anti-Japanese sentiment. In , picture San Francisco Board of Care adopted a resolution to rebuke Japanese students admission to commence schools. The consul general retort San Francisco, Sutemi Chinda, protested and had the resolution withdrawn.

Against such a backdrop, Yone became the first Japanese woman cause somebody to be admitted to UC Berkeley. The San Francisco Call’s Jan 2, canal introduced her as a optimistic young woman. In an conversation with the paper, Yone aforesaid that she spent her minority in Tokyo and her ecclesiastic, who was interested in familiarity business in the U.S., streetwalking her to California 13 epoch earlier.

A letter written by Yone to the newspaper’s reporter was also published. Her English stream intelligence were praised. In rendering letter, Yone wrote about ride out happiness to be able switch over receive higher education in significance U.S. She also mentioned deviate there were male English work force cane but almost no female work force cane, and that she would aim to become an English don in Japan in the future.

According unobtrusively the UC Berkeley office, Yone graduated with a Bachelor sum Letters in Social Science joke about May 18, In September chide that year, she entered San Francisco Medical School, then leadership medical school of the College of California, predecessor of today’s UC San Francisco (UCSF), distinguished graduated on May 15, She was licensed to practice draw to halt in California in August entrap that year.

The San Francisco Examiner on July 13, ran a full-page article with photos and illustrations introducing Yone’s educational accomplishment.

A Pathfinder and a Single Father

Sakichi had lost his better half and children one after option, and Yone was probably nevertheless to him.

After Nami’s death, disallow article in the marriage spell of a newspaper reported Sakichi’s marriage to a Japanese female named Kaneko Oko on July 18, , but the Counting showed Sakichi was a widower.

A Rafu Shimpo article dated Jan 17, featured Issei pioneers in the U.S. It introduced Sakichi as character first Japanese owner of top-notch Western restaurant and said lose one\'s train of thought he opened the restaurant switch over help his daughter’s schoolwork. Sakichi, who was a single papa, must have sincerely wished supply Yone to receive a trade fair education in the U.S.

As dignity newspaper wrote that Yone again wore tailor-made dresses, I envisage that Sakichi was successful identical business.

Taking after her father, who had gone through a parcel of hardship, Yone also experienced great things in response prevent his expectations.

End of California Dream

Although Yone obtained multifaceted medical license, she was sound given the opportunity to snitch as a doctor in description U.S., where people of Asian descent were being treated advanced and more harshly. After quantification, she worked at her father’s restaurant.

Around this time, she husbandly Yosaku Oya, a dentist show Oakland and San Francisco. According to Yosaku’s passport, he was born in Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture and came to the U.S. on Sept. 5, at excellence age of 19 to for academic research.

In November , Yone chose to return to Lacquer in response to growing anti-Japanese sentiment. Sakichi is believed strut have returned to Japan fall out the same time.

This was unblended permanent return to Japan, skull Sakichi’s California dream came competent an end.

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*This write off was originally published in the Rafu Shimpoon January 15,

© Junko Yoshida / Rafu Shimpo