The Sunday Read as told by Katie Dowd
Jan. 29, 2021
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Matsugoro Ofuji, a carpenter who came from Japan in 1869, is believed to be pictured in this photo on the left.
The photograph ont he right is among many donated to the California state parks system to celebrate the history of the Wakamatsu colony. The colony s leader, John Henry Schnell, is believed to be the gentleman on the right. The identity of the other colonists is not known.
Before I started writing this story, I went around telling all my friends about the samurai colony that once existed in Northern California. No one had ever heard of it. And, up until a few days before, deep down another internet rabbit hole, neither had I.
The only samurai colony ever attempted outside of Japan was in California
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The historic plaque honoring the former inhabitants of Wakamatsu Farm, the first home of Japanese immigrant families in the United States.NoeHill via Wikimedia Commons
The story of Okei Ito is more famous in Japan than it is in California.
In her hometown of Aizu-Wakamatsu, the teenage pioneer has her own shrine and her own folk song. Her story is taught in schools. And for decades, Japanese tourists have ventured all the way to a tiny town north of Placerville just to see her grave.
It is in a lonely place, set above a farm that was once populated by the only samurai colony ever attempted outside of Japan. Okei, just 17, arrived with them to care for the children of their leader. She did not take to the unfamiliar land, and for comfort she would climb that lonely hill to sit and sing.