Introduction

BRIDGE OF HOPE is a publication conceived and undertaken by JEWL-the Japanese Executive Women’s League. The founding members of JEWL arrived in Southern California well after the end of World War II. Some became executives in already-established companies. Others went into business for themselves. In 1985, a group of seven decided to enter into an organization that would foster personal growth and networking, whereupon JEWL was born.

At the outset, challenges were everywhere to be found – the English language, the legal system in all of its complexity, the world of business practices and relations. As women, we faced the additional hurdle of getting beyond convention and stereotype. However, we persevered, in spite of the many obstacles we faced, and we managed to succeed. In due course, though, we came to realize that our path to success had in fact been paved by many exemplary individuals who had preceded us – pioneering Japanese-Americans who struggled so hard to earn the full entitlements of citizenship that we now take for granted.

These early pioneers selflessly strove to adapt to their new lives in a strange new land. They endured much hardship and managed to overcome the many obstacles and setbacks that threatened their livelihoods and their very survival. Despite tremendous odds, their communities took root and flourished. These forerunners cultivated the soil that would later harbor and nurture our own dreams and ambitions, which have yielded such a rich harvest over a century later.

This, then, was the legacy of those who came before, a legacy that has indeed become a noteworthy chapter of American history. It is to these individuals, and what they stood for, that we proudly dedicate this book, this BRIDGE OF HOPE.

◇Japanese Diplomatic Mission to America in 1860
The book describes a Japanese diplomatic mission to America in 1860 dispatched by the then Tokugawa Shogunate government. Tadamasa Oguri (later called Kozukenosuke Oguri) participated in the mission as one of the three top delegates. It was the first Japanese mission officially sent to the country and they received tumultuous welcomes in San Francisco, Panama, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York.
Ms. Mami Mizuguchi, the chairperson of JEWL-the Japanese Executive Women’s League, compiled and edited materials for the book. When she found in the Tohzenji Homepage that the ship the Japanese Mission had boarded for the voyage had not been Kanrin Maru, but another ship, she was very surprised and visited the temple all the way to learn more about the mission. Then, she added to the book some stories about the mission as well as what Tadamasa Oguri had accomplished or advocated to modernize Japan by taking advantage of his experience in America. Those stories have never been taught in schools in Japan.

◇ Images in the Book Supplied by Tohzenji
The images we supplied for the book are a portrait of Tadamasa Oguri, the miniature of the steam frigate Powhatan, a railway train in Panama drawn by Tohshichi Sato, the mission in White House, the ball in New York welcoming the mission, the mission visiting Washington Naval Shipyard, Tsukiji Hotel and mission’s march on Broadway, New York.

The book covers the history of relations between Japan and America for 170 years. Specifically, it starts with the story of Otokichi who drifted ashore on the west coast of America in 1834 as the first Japanese to land on the continent, which was 20 years earlier than Perry’s arrival in Japan, and ends with some coverage for the year of 2004. The book has so many materials vigorously collected and well edited that it is very interesting even to me, a mere outsider of the Japanese-American history. The writers must have gone through the effort to make the chronological table, too. The drifter, Otokichi, is regarded as the first Japanese who landed on the American continent so far, but many Japanese followed him and became American citizens by absorbing the different culture. I was very impressed at the introduction of the book where the writers express their appreciation for the fact that their path to success had been paved by those many preceding Japanese who had struggled and striven so hard. I assume that their appreciation is solely derived from their own struggles after moving to America.

There is a Chinese saying, "When you drink the water, think of the well-digger."　The book literally illustrates the saying. 　
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　(Taiken Murakami, the priest of the Tohzenji Temple)