Mizuko

Mizuko: True Spirit is an epic American-immigrant tale of hardship, assimilation, and the eventual triumph that ensued. When the Takahashis, one of the wealthiest families in western Japan, lost their great fortune in 1900, five-year-old Mizuko Takahashi went from riches to rags.

Mizuko's lifetime in Japan and America offers the reader an intimate look into the world of an Asian immigrant. This book tells the story of one woman's efforts to surmount racism, sexism, and poverty in the 20th century. Featured is a riveting account of the matriarch's life in Manzanar Concentration Camp for three years beginning in 1942.

Mizuko: True Spirit is required reading for anyone who needs or wants a fuller understanding of the history of minority women in America, the reality of immigrant life, and the unjust incarceration of Japanese people in America during World War II. Family genealogists will be inspired by the detailed descriptions of her and her family in this multi-generational saga. Written in an accessible style for everyone 12 and older, Mizuko's sixty-five years in America present a rousing and historically important piece of America's past.

This book is of interest to those interested in the following: History, Immigration and Immigrant Lives, Women's Issues, Biography, Racism, WWII American Internment Camps, and Japanese American History.

The book is divided into four parts or 'seasons'.

Spring describes Mizuko's birth in Japan (in 1895) and her voyage to America in 1911. Summer recounts Mizuko's married and widowed life in America from 1911 to 1941.

Fall finds Mizuko taken prisoner and details her life in Manzanar Concentration Camp during WWII. Winter finishes the story, spanning from 1945 until Mizuko's death in 1986.

Learn of the Japanese celebration of Girl's Day, what it was like to work as a man on the Pacific railways in the early 1900s, and how a 'Loyalty Oath' in Manzanar threatened to split incarcerated Japanese families apart.