An American Friend in Tokyo, 1941-1943: Edith Sharpless

An American Friend in Tokyo, 1941-1943: Edith Sharpless Caroline L. Cherry* When the U. S. declared war on Japan in December, 1941, Edith Forsythe Sharpless was the only American Quaker remaining in Japan; by June, 1942 she was one ofonly 60 Americans left in all Japan. As such, she had an acute awareness of her responsibilities as a representative of American Friends and specifically of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, her role as custodian ofcertain properties, and her usefulness as an observer ofimportanthistoricalevents. Formerlyshehadrecordedheractivitiesand observations in letters to her mother and many friends, but with the outbreak ofwar and the unlikelihood ofsending letters outside Japan, she began ajournai. Acopy ofherhandwrittenjournal covering December 14, 1941 to December 8, 1943 (including the journey back to the U.S.), together with a 41-page typewritten copy, is housed in the Quaker CollectionofHaverfordCollege. The documentprovides details aboutlife in Tokyo for Americans during this period and about the struggles of Quakers to remain an active, identifiable force in Japan, as well as adumbrating the character of a remarkably faithful Friend. This article reprints sections ofthe journal which illuminate the conditions ofAmericans and Quakerism in Japan during this period. The manuscript version is followed in cases where there is a slight difference from the typed version. Edith Forsythe Sharpless (1883-1956) was the daughter of Isaac Sharpless, president ofHaverford College from 1887-1917, and ofLydia Sharpless. A 1905 graduate ofBryn Mawr College, she taught at Guilford College until 1909, when she undertook graduate studies at Columbia University Teacher's College. In 1910, she went to Japan as a missionary teacher under the auspices of the Mission Board of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (Arch Street). At that time, there were four recognized meetings in Japan: one in Shiba, Tokyo; one in Yokohama; and two in Ibaraki province northeast of Tokyo (Mito and Tsuchiura Monthly Meetings) (Sharpless, Quakerism in Japan 13). Edith Sharpless was attached to the meeting in Mito where she ran a kindergarten for 32 children and supervised a girls' dormitory (Vining 220); her colleagues in that endeavor for most ofthat period were Herbert and Madeline Nicholson. She also spent *Caroline L. Cherry is Professor of English at Eastern College. Permission to quote from Edith Sharpless' journal has been given by the Quaker Collection of the Haverford College Library. Shorthand spelling which occurs in the journal has been retained. An American Friend in Tokyo: 1941-194335 five years in Shimotsuma. However, with the passage of the Religious Organizations Bill by the Japanese Diet in 1939, the establishment ofthe Church ofChrist in Japan which required all Christian churches in Japan to unite under one body, and the growing official unfriendliness to foreign missionaries and missions establishments, many missionaries left Japan andmany operations were curtailed. ByAugust 1941, Edith Sharpless was the only American Quaker still in Japan; in September she moved from Mito to Tokyo and began teaching in the Friends Girls' School which had had Japanese principals from the beginning and was then under the direction ofToki Tomiyama, herselfa graduate ofFriends Girls' School. She lived in the house that had belonged to Gilbert and Minnie Pickett Bowles before their retirement in August, 1941, at Dai Machi, the Quaker compound in Tokyo. This was the situation whenthe United States declared war on Japan and Edith Sharpless began herjournal. This she did with tact and circumspection , concerned to keep an accurate record but aware that her manuscript, along with all her possessions, might be confiscated at any time and used against her and others. For instance, on March 8, 1942, she wrote this double-edged account ofthe Japanese administration of conquered territories : And there is much, much to praise. For instance, the meticulous preparation Japan is making for her new responsibilities. She is not only going forward in the military field, taking over one island in the Southern seas after another, but she is busy with plans for their future organization, even in some cases before they have actually capitulated. First a new name is given. Singapore is now Shonanto (Sho-wa-minami-shima). The educational system for the natives is to be remodelled with the Japanese language put into the school curriculums. Plans for changes in industry to meet changed...