The American Diary of a Japanese Girl is a novel by Yone Noguchi about a young Japanese girl, "Miss Morning Glory", who moves to America at the age of 18 with her uncle. Her diary entries detail her experiences discovering American culture and people as she travels from San Francisco to New York.

A ground-breaking work of Asian American fiction in a brand new edition.

The American Diary of a Japanese Girl (1901) is a novel by Yone Noguchi. Published in New York alongside illustrations by Genjiro Yeto, the novel was styled as a fascinating tell-all written by a young Japanese tourist. Composed with the assistance of Léonie Gilmour and Blanche Partington, The American Diary of a Japanese Girl was Noguchi’s first novel and a major departure from his poetry at the time. An 18-year-old Japanese woman going by the name Miss Morning Glory embarks on a journey from her native country to the United States. Accompanied by her uncle, a wealthy industrialist, Morning Glory arrives in San Francisco via steamship. She soon befriends the American wife of a Japanese diplomat, who introduces her to minstrel shows and vaudeville. Left to her own devices, Morning Glory takes over a local cigar shop in Chinatown and begins to assimilate into American life and culture. When she meets Heine, an older poet from Oakland, Morning Glory is inspired to pursue a career as a writer. As she travels across the expansive American landscape with her uncle, she comments on the people and places she encounters along the way. Through her eyes we see the country in a strange new light, perhaps more truth than fiction. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Yone Noguchi’s The American Diary of a Japanese Girl is a classic of Japanese American literature reimagined for modern readers.

The American Diary of a Japanese Girl by Yoné Noguchi

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Excerpt from The American Diary of a Japanese Girl It is verily the first event in our family his. Tory that I could trace back for six centuries. My to-day's dream of America - dream of a butter y sipping on golden dews - was rudely broken by the artless chirrup of a hundred sparrows in my garden. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."

My new page of life is dawning. A trip beyond the seas--Meriken Kenbutsu--it's not an ordinary event. It is verily the first event in our family history that I could trace back for six centuries. My to-day's dream of America--dream of a butterfly sipping on golden dews--was rudely broken by the artless chirrup of a hundred sparrows in my garden. "Chui, chui! Chui, chui, chui!" Bad sparrows! My dream was silly but splendid. Dream is no dream without silliness which is akin to poetry. If my dream ever comes true! 24th--The song of gay children scattered over the street had subsided. The harvest moon shone like a yellow halo of "Nono Sama." All things in blessed Mitsuho No Kuni--the smallest ant also--bathed in sweet inspiring beams of beauty. The soft song that is not to be heard but to be felt, was in the air. 'Twas a crime, I judged, to squander lazily such a gracious graceful hour within doors. I and my maid strolled to the Konpira shrine. Her red stout fingers--like sweet potatoes--didn't appear so bad tonight, for the moon beautified every ugliness.