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Unexpected Destinations: The Poignant Story of Japan's First Vassar Graduate, By Akiko Kuno. Translated by Kirsten McIvor. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1993. 246 pp. $23.00/Y3.400.
Behind the uninspiring title of this book lies the inspiring story of a Japanese girl who was sent at government expense to study in the United States at the dawn of the Meiji period (1868-1912). Oyama Sutematsu (1860-1919) traveled in august company: She was escorted by the members of the Iwakura mission, who set out on a fact-finding tour of the United States and Europe in 1871.
The leaders of the new Japanese government made education a top priority in the nation's drive to catch up with the West. In the first flush of contact...