Milarepa wrote:

5. In 1959, Hawaii (the only state where Japanese weren't interned).

Pandora wrote:
If that is the case, then, why do we use the word "lie" to describe what Mrs Takata told us? Why use such emotive language, unless you deliberately want to discredit her teaching? Why not use a word such as "parables" or "teaching stories"?

Pandora wrote:
Mrs Takata taught what she did, how she did, using the words that she did, because she came from the culture that she did. People who try and straddle cultures, especially those who are trying to convey concepts which are alien in one of the cultures, often use language that doesn't really get the meaning across because of the gap between those cultures.

Dragonfly wrote:

I do agree with a lot of what Chris says, and even though Takata Sensei was Japanese-American and quite familiar with American culture, etc., clearly there's something more here that we're missing.

Dragonfly wrote:
Is it possible she was asked not to share or advised to change elements of information about Reiki's history by Dr. Hayashi?

Milarepa wrote:

Dragonfly wrote:

I do agree with a lot of what Chris says, and even though Takata Sensei was Japanese-American and quite familiar with American culture, etc., clearly there's something more here that we're missing.

What's making you say there's something you're missing?

Dragonfly wrote:

Sorry, maybe I should try to clarify. Chris talks about how the idea of "truth" is culturally different in the East and the West. Takata sensei straddled both cultures and thus was familiar with both, yet chose deliberately to teach in a style that may have occluded certain elements of "factual truth," which is different from "spiritual truth."

Dragonfly wrote:
The stories of Usui sensei traveling to the U.S. sort of baffled me. I'm not saying it isn't possible, but just somehow odd to me that there is no way to verify the possibility that he did. 7 years is a long time to be in this country and have no trail anywhere. Granted, it was at least 100 years ago and it's unlikely you can find passenger manifests from ships that sailed from Japan to the U.S., but if he was a spiritual teacher surely he must have stayed with someone or had direct contact with people who talked about or remembered this man from Japan! That's my personal take on it, though.

In the years immediately following the reopening of Japanese ports to foreign trade, it was still very difficult for Japanese citizens to get permission to leave the county, yet in 1864, a 21 year old samurai named Niijima Jou (1843-1890) secretly found passage on a ship to the U.S. (via China) with the intent of studying Christianity and science

Settling in Massachusetts, he attended Amherst College and Andover Theological Seminary; eventually, in 1874, becoming ordained as a Protestant minister.

However, at the time, had you contacted either Amherst College or the Andover Seminary enquiring as to whether or not an individual named Niijima Jou had attended their establishment, you may well have received an answer something along the lines of the one William Rand received from the University of Chicago, concerning Mikao Usui (see above)

i.e., that their records did not indicate that Niijima Jou ever attended the establishment.

And the reason for this?

In the US, Niijima Jou, had adopted the name Joseph Hardy Neesima. (Jou became Joe became Joseph, Niijima became Neesima, and as to the middle name, Hardy, this was the surname of the people who sponsored his stay in the US)

And in taking a westernised name, Niijima Jou / Joseph Hardy Neesima could perhaps be seen to have set a precedent.
For, over the years it became a not too uncommon practice amongst Japanese students travelling to western countries to adopt western names (or at very least, westernised versions of their original Japanese names) [9]

[Which begs the question: Could it be that when Usui-sensei went to the US [10] he had also adopted this practice?[11] ]

For some, like Neesima, the westernised name was a baptismal one[12] - an outward sign of the individual's Christian faith[13], for others, taking a western name was simply part of their immersion in western culture, part of their desire to 'fit in'.

On returning home, some kept their western names (a statement of their westernisation/modernisation), some did not.

Niijima Jou, on returning to Japan in 1874, retained the westernised name Joseph Hardy Neesima.

In 1875, he opened his own Eigakko (Academy) in Kyoto.

Initially having only eight students, Neesima's academy steadily grew into an important centre for education, and by 1920, had evolved into a full-blown, private Daigaku (University) - yet it still bore its original name: Doshisha.

Dragonfly wrote: After all, many immigrants who came over (including my great-grandparents) had their names changed to make spelling and pronounciation easier (as well as to reduce the "ethnic" sound of the name) so it's entirely possible if Usui sensei was here as a student, he may have adopted the same convention.

Dragonfly wrote:
It also seems to me that given Usui sensei's accomplishments, there would be no need to lie about whether or not he had spent time studying in the U.S. The system of Reiki he developed stands on its own merit, even if he had never left Japan.

Dragonfly wrote:
It doesn't matter that I already know the story; it's the telling of it that is important.

They Changed Our Name at Ellis Island
by Donna Przecha

How Spellings Really Changed In this article, expert Donna Przecha dispels some common myths about name-changing at various points of immigration.

We have all heard someone say that their family name was "changed by the inspectors at Ellis Island." Nowadays our names are recorded when we are born and are virtually never changed. You can still use any name you want as long as you do not intend to defraud but, in fact, with drivers' licenses, social security numbers, credit cards, etc., it is just too complicated to try to alter your name except through a court proceeding.

People seem to feel that it was the same way at the turn of the century. They think that immigrants had one correct way to spell their name in the old country, when they encountered the clerk at Ellis Island it was changed to something else and then it was spelled that way ever after in America. The explanation usually is that the immigrant spoke little or no English, so either the immigrant inadvertently gave an incorrect reply to the question of "What is your name?" or the clerk misunderstood the name or decided it was too complicated.

In reality, it is highly unlikely that this happened. The Immigration and Naturalization Service has a good article on immigrant name changes that explains why this wonderful story is a myth: the clerks at Ellis Island didn't write down names. They worked from lists that were created by the shipping companies. What usually happened was the emigrant bought a ticket from an office near his home. So, the seller probably spoke the same language and transcribed the name correctly. In cases where the name was recorded incorrectly, it likely occurred in the old country, not at Ellis Island.

There are several questions to consider when talking about the accuracy of name spellings on records:

When the record was created, was there a standard ("correct") way to spell the name?

Did the individual know how to spell the name himself? (Was he literate?)

If he did not write the name himself, did the recording clerk ask him his preferred spelling?

So much of the time, the answer to at least one of these questions was "no." However, let us assume that your emigrant knew how to spell his name and it was written correctly on the list created by the shipping company and used by the inspectors at Ellis Island. When he arrived at Ellis Island, he was checked against the list. With all the immigrants coming through the facility, many translators were employed so language problems were rare.

Bear in mind that name changes were often made by the immigrants themselves. Let's see what some of those possible reasons are.

Employment
The vast majority of immigrants came to the United States to get jobs. There was a huge pool of workers, usually unskilled, who were desperate to work. Employers didn't have to abide by anti-discriminatory laws and were not given sensitivity training. They often found foreign names difficult and preferred workers who were somewhat Americanized. If an immigrant had family or friends who arrived earlier they may have advised the new arrival to take an easier, more Americanized name. Similarly, a boss may have found the foreign name too difficult to say and suggested a simpler name (he might say, for example, "That name is too difficult for me. How about I call you Sam?"). The new employee didn't object and he may have just decided to use the new name for everything. And, since wages were usually paid in cash, he didn't have to worry about a name on a check being the same as the bank account or a Social Security investigation.

.

Fitting In
Assimilating into American culture is another reason why your ancestors might have changed their names. While some immigrants came with the idea of working for a while and returning home, most came to stay forever. Many wanted to become Americans as fast as possible so they changed their style of clothes and adopted a more American name.


who Changed Your Name? Your Ancestor
If your family name underwent a change in America, you can be pretty certain that the only person responsible for the modification was your ancestor, not an inspector at Ellis Island! And, it is important to remember that the name may have evolved over time. Keep this in mind as you hunt for your immigrant ancestor in the records of his new homeland.