March of 1954 turned into April and May as Toshi
began again to help Mary Ballantyne with interpreting .
She 柯ad decided before her trip to never again under-
take that kind of work. " But, " she wrote , " I started
to help Mary Ballantyne because I Iove her so , and
also in thanksgiving for my happy trip God gave me . "
Two months later she admitted that nothing was
happening- that she was just tired , a sort of exhaus-
tion ' way down deep ' . She declared that she did
nothing that was not absolutely necessary but includ-
ed plans for sending more things from Japan on the
Friendship Bridge , enthusiastic plans . She added , " I
am not only helping Mary Ballantyne in interpreting
but I'm teaching her the Japanese language which re-
quires a whole day once a week. I have to spend many
hours for preparation , too ."
It was in mid-summer that Toshi's elder sister
died quite suddenly . She had been a leader for wom-
en's rights in Japan . As a symbol of that leadership
she was the first w ﾘoman in the nation to bob her hair
The father was surprised that her husband allowed
her to do such a thing . Widows in Japan wore bobbed
hair as a syrnbol of loyalty and proof that they
sought no onther spouse . Toshi reviewed memories of
this loved sister as she suffered the strain of plan-
ning the funeral at Kawasaki Chapel and carrying the
full responsibility .
She wrote to her friends , " For some time the
sense of emptiness hurt too keenly and left me lazy
( 'Iethargic ) . I am finding the Way once again to a
sense of Peace and Purpose in a loving Father . "
" I am planning to go away with Mary Ballantyne
and Bonnie Johnson to a quiet place . We are invited

to one of my friends who has a beautiful villa with a
lovely hot springs . I shall try to wash my worn-out
soul , taking a bath several times a day. After com-
ing back I shall take another trip to the North where
another hot bath in a beautiful summer resort country
is twaiting for me . "
Toshi was truly Japanese in her enjoyment of
baths . She felt even more than the pleasure ; she
strongly believed them to have healing power for both
body and spirit . For hundreds of years Shinto religi-
ous teachings have related the bath to a kind of pu-
rification ; actual personal dirt was believed to be
disrespectful toward the gods . Bathing restored the
religious feeling of harmony with the invisible gods
and made one peaceful within one's self and at peace
with others .
Over the whole of Japan the hours between five
and seven in the evening are considered sacred to the
bath after which comes the evening meal . The bath is
regarded as important as food and rest .
A Japanese bathroom is built to be inviting and
welcoming. It is not a place for hurrying . The wa-
ter is heated either by hot springs or by a stove
outside the room or attached to the bathtub . The
floor is made to quickly drain away the water that is
splashed on onesel f outside the tub , and also the wa-
ter with soapy suds and more for rinsing . Only after
becoming clean does the Japanese bather enter the tub
of hot , clean water to relax , to think , to visit with
another bather , or to just sit . The toilet is in
another room .
American bat.hrooms are fitted with locks or
bolts . One usually enters fully clothed or partially
so , disrobes quickly , steps into the tub of water ,
spreads on the soapy lather , splashes the water to
rinse , steps out to rub oneself dry , does clothing
efficiently , unlocks the door and is on the way again
in as short a time as possible .

Toshi wrote of her first Japanese bath at home
after being deprived those weeks and months in Ameri-
ca . "How thrilled I was to have my own Japanese bath
the night I arrived . A Japanese bathtub is very deep
and the water comes up to your neck . To have a bath
every day is considered a luxury because fuel is so
expensive , but I call it my hobby and I have one
every day . "
That same year , 1954 , Miss Takata registered
with the Japanese Government the Takata English In-
stitute , her small apartment and the Kawasaki Chapel
as a religious institution . The church now would
have its own controlling board which handled the mon-
ey that supported the ongoing expenses and carried on
the work if anything happened to her . The Japanese
Government by accepting this registration gave tax-
free status with the understanding that a church fa-
cility be
built later . Miss Takata now received a
small salary .
It seemed a poor time for the little congrega-
tion of the Kawasaki Chapel to plan to build a " real "
chapel and school building . It was also a poor time
to undertake the building of a new and larger apart-
ment for Toshi , but in November of 1955 the carpen-
ters came and began to build it adjoining the older
apartment and on the right side of the garden . The
older apartment was quite small and subject to break-
down , built as it was of poor materials available at
the close of the War . Her new home was to have one
large room downstairs and two rooms upstairs .
The worknen came afternoons after their regular
day's work and Toshi provided refreshment at three
o'clock , then sup 継er , and refreshment again as late
as ten o'lock or even one A.M. All this took time
and energy from her other work during November and
December and she continually suffered from cold .
Her building did not have general heating ; she heated
it as best she could with a kerosene stove .

January 2nd , 1956 found her moving into her new
home after finishing New Year celebrations and direct-
ing three Christmas programs . As she worked all day
settling her things she realized how the Lord had pro-
tected her- made her richer in His care in having so
many things to move ! Once she was " burned out" and
had only two pans and her bedding left . She wrote to
her American friends that her house looked like a
house in California and promply offered them a stand-
ing invitation to come and stay as long as they liked ,
and added , " I truly mean it ! " She soon was having
part ｨies for as many as fifty people . The cooking had
to be done in the garden .
In order for the whole institution remain tax
free a new building had to be built with a separated
area for the school and another for the chapel . Soon
the Kawasaki leaders began plans of the building with
a possible cost of ten thousand dollars , American
money , but because of inflation and the demand for
better building materials the cost had to be increased
to fifteen thousand . The origianl plans were for
building of brick or stone but since wood was cheapest
the building must be of wood .
All of the congregation began together the years
of earnest fund raising for the " real " buildings .
Prayers and contributions continued . Toshi gave
funds that came from teaching extra hours in the eve-
nings until 8 : 30 . Others of the congregation conti-
nued their contributions . Interested friends and
outs (ide organizations made gifts . Funds came from
selling articles . Slowly the years passed .
Finally during the days after Christmas of 1963 ,
Miss Takata negotiated at the bank to get all the
necessary papers in order and the carpenters began
the building .
The young man , Hideyoshi Takahashi was now a
graduate of seminary and had completed his experience
training . He then returned to become pastor of the

Kawasaki Chapel . Miss Takata wrote that he had stayed
with her when he first came and they had cooked to-
gether. He seemed like her own son .
As the building of the institution came into be-
ing Miss Takata battled a long illness from colds as
she often did in wintertime . She taught her classes
and stayed in bed between times to keep warm and to
recover her health for the Easter dedication of the
finished building .
During the dedication the final act was the giv-
ing over the ownership of her new house along with
the congregation's gift of the new building to the
Kawasaki Chapel . The dedication ceremony called for
congratulatory messages and among those was one from
the First Presbyterian Church of Bloomington , Indiana .

That spring of 1964 Miss Takata wrote happily of
the new church and school activities . "Our first
church service was a thanksgiving ceremony . Later a
special thanksgiving party for me was giving in re-
cognition of the gift of my new house and of my ef-
fort in helping to raise money for th e new building . .
Please give my heartfelt thanks as well as the thanks
of our church people to those who have given gifts
and prayers . I am sorry I was not able to thank Mr .
Walker and you for the message you sent for the dedi-
cation . Right after that important day I was on the
verge of a nervous breakdown and I became very ill .
Various emotions came over me on the very day- a sen-
sitive soul like me could not keep calm. . . I have no
words to express my gratitude but I shall express my
thoughts personally when I come to see you . "
She then merely mentioned her coming journey
over the Friendship Bridge . " Ruth Strickland must
have told you about my trip this summer. . Spring is
at the corner and with the prospect of my happy trip ・
I am thrilled . Time goes very slowly this time . My
heart leaps up when I think I shall see you face to
face after ten long years . Bloomington seems my sec-
ond home . "
She added , " Before I Ieave I must think how to
raise the fund for the new building equipment , but I
trust the Lord will provide all we need as He has
done before . "
She had long felt that God had provided the op-
portunity and her strength to establish the Takata
English Institute , her third school . She was a young
woman when she founded the first, the English Play
School in Tokyo , innovative , attractive and the first
of its kind in Japan . It had no religious instruc-
tion , nor did the second school , the junior college
for girls founded after the great earthquake in Tokyo .
It offered a full curriculum except religious instruc-
tion . The Kawasaki school was different . It was as ｧ-
sociated with Sunday School and services for adults
almost immediately after its beginning . She had felt
that the Lord had indeed provided much for that
school and church . Surely He would again .
The spring weather turned into summer when she
decided to cross the Pacific on a Japanese freighter
in 1964 . The long slow passage would give a much
needed rest and her luggage would not be restricted .
She planned to bring a stone lantern for Miss Strick-
land's garden , various things for the Sunday School
children and certain specialties for dinners she and
Miss Strickland would serve on the terrace . In the
midst of these plans she heard from Mrs . Johnson that
the summer Sunday School session would end July , 22nd .
The planned freighter voyage would bring her too late
for her to see the children again that summer . She
changed her plans .
She cancelled her ship passage ticket , b ｦought a
plane ticket , left Japan about the 14th and came
straight to Indianapolis . She had chosen to give up
those long , carefree days at sea and the bringing of
the stone lantern .
In a reassuring letter she wrote to Miss Strick-
land , " Ruth , dear , please do not worry about me , as I
shall look after myself all right . I am getting im-
patient . My heart , mind and soul are already in
Bloomington . I have finished nearly all preparations
except that I shall have to face so many farewell
meetings with friends . Yesterday my doctor said I
was in perfect health and you should not worry. . . . In
case you are not able to meet me , kindly have someone
meet me . To help identify me I send one of my pass-
port pictures . "

Her visit that summer was a glowing success . The
children of the Primary Department and Mrs. Johnson
for ten years had sent and received letters , pictures , ・
gifts , games and books over the Friendship Bridge .
They greeted Miss Takata as a welcome friend . Adult
friends in the First Presbyterian congregation enjoy-
ed having her with them and she closely observed the
ways of American Christians .
She was eager to entertain her church friends in
as Japanese a manner as she could manage in the set-
ting of Professor Strickland's home and terrace . One
warm summer evening six guests arrived and were
greeted by a charming hostess dressed in an exqui-
sitely brocaded pale blue Kimono . The table on the
terrace was lighted by brilliant rnoonlight ; the flow-
ers had been carefully arranged by Toshi and she had
placed chopsticks at each place resting them on little
porcelain supports in such shapes as little fish or
peapods . When all eight were seated Toshi said grace
in Japanese . She had often explained that somehow
she could not pray ・in English .
First came a small tray of delicately scented ,
steamy , rolled-up strips of printed fabric- finger
towels . Toshi had brought the special perfume for
them . Each guest wiped fingers on the damp , warm
towels, carefully rerolled them and replaced them in
order of seating to be used at the end of the dinner .
The first course , clear consume with a slice of
carrot , a bit of green bean , possibly a tiny fish
floating in it , was served in Miss Strickland's dark
red lacquer bowls with gold on the covers . Chop-
sticks were to be used to lift out the solid bits be-
fore drinking the soup . All had much fun as they
developed whatever skill they could manage .
The main course included fried rice , a combina-
tion of wild and white rice , beef , almonds , muchrooms ,
seasoning and soy sauce . Hot tea came without sugar
or cream and was served in teacups made without

handles. Fruit for dessert finished the food part of
the dinner b 蛄t learning of Japanese ways had begun
with the first course and continued through the last .
For example , our Japanese hostess served the
first bowl of consomme by placing it in front of Rever-
end Walker . He looked rather surprised and gently
moved it toward his wife sitting by him and said ,
"Shouldn't this go to a lady ? " Toshi quickly replaced
the bowl in front of him , saying , " The father is al-
ways served first . " Professor Johnson was served the
second bowl and the other guests- all women- were
served in the order seated .
Toshi had spent much time carefully inscribing
Japanese characters on strips of red ribbon , one for
each guest. She translated for us the welcoming and
gracefully worded greetings . They were to be taken
home as were the finger towels , the fabric of which
had prints of famous Japanese dancers or kabuki ac-
tors .
Mrs. Joseph Walker recalled various dinners with
Toshi in the homes of Bloomington frien �ds. " Toshi
prepared Japanese foods and once we observed the for-
mal Japanese tea ceremony . She had composed poems
for each of us and obligingly translated them for us
after she read them in her own language . They were
lovely . Every year until her death Joe and I received
Christmas cards from our dear friend , Toshi . She was
an irspiration to know, a great Christian and a de-
lightful companion . The reopening of the Friendship
Bridge is a welcome challenge , especially to those
who were fortunate enough to know her . "
It was in 1969 and five years later that Miss
Takata made a last visit to Bloomington , her second
home as she often said . Professor Strickland was to
retire that summer as a faculty member of Indiana
University and she invited Miss Takata to come and
participate in the farewell functions . Miss Takata ,
a professional woman of Japan , was eager to observe

how an American professional woman responded to honor-
ing ceremonies and how she carried out her plans in
closing her life work, selling her house , moving her
possessions to California where she had already pur-
chased a new home .
Toshi Takata deeply adnired Ruth Strickland .
When all was ended the two friends left Blooming-
ton at the summer ' s end to go to Japan where for ten
days they would travel together . " Toshi acted as host-
ess and planned for them to see many beautiful scenes
and treasures of her country . " They enjoyed the lei-
surely travel together . Professor Strickland then
joined a tour group to continue a trip around the
world .
Miss Takata wrote to Bloomington friends , " How
empty a feeling I have at the thought of Ruth Strick-
land not being in Bloomington . Even without Ruth in
Bloomington , my second home is there . Remember that ,
please !

Each winter Toshi suffered colds and bronchitis
but that winter she continued suffering on into spring
and summer. She was hospitalized for part of the time
and was very weakened . The writer hesitated but fi-
nally wrote to ask her if she would be strong enough
to have me visit her for a short time .
I planned to go to Japan in August of 1970 with
a tour group made up of graduates of my alma mater ,
the University of Iowa . Toshi responded with a let-
ter full of questions and plans and dates and de-
clared herself to be well enough and eager to spend
some days with me in Hakone National Park . I was to
come a number of days ahead of my tour group and have
time wit
h her before I joined them .
And so it was that this writer , too , crossed the
Bridge and arrived about dinner time in a brilliantly
lighted Tokyo airport . Miss Takata and Reverend Ta-
kahashi and a young student friend met me with a car

to take me to the adjoining city of Kawasaki. As I
stepped out of the car into the garden in front of
Toshi's house , Mrs . Takahashi met me with a lovely
greeting .
Inside a young woman student was preparing a Jap-
anese dinner . As Toshi , I , and the men gathered
around a western-type table another young man , the
church treasurer , joined us . After a bountiful suki-
yaki dinner we sat and visited , dishes left on the
table as families and close friends do in Bloomington .
All spoke English- no dou 傭t as graduates of the Taka-
ta English Institute . Toshi was her self though not
the lively , eager self I had known , but now quietly
managing all as she ever had done .
The following day , after a three-hour train ride
we came to Gora , a village in Hakone National Park,
the Park so large that it included mountains , a city,
farms , large estates and five very large lakes. This
government-controlled large park protected the area
around the sacred Mt . Fuj i from damaging changes .
That afternoon when we entered the Gora Hotel
Toshi learned that the reservations she had made for
rooms in the western-style section had to be changed
and we were offered a suite of rooms in the Japanese
area , rooms I called the " bridal suite " . I was de-
lighted with them . They were on the fourth floor
near an adjacent large porch open to spectacular
scenery .
Before we e ﾑntered the rooms we stepped into a
tiny tiled entry where I took off my heavy American
shoes and put on knitted bootees that Toshi provided .
Toshi changed into flat heeless scuffs and we both
stepped into the larger room on the straw mat tatami
floor . The mats were fastened together and to the
wall as wall-to-wall carpeting and padded with layers
of rice straw . One felt as though one were walking
on foam rubber . Toshi noticed my almost-barefoot
delight and suggested that I wear soft footwear in my

own home when I returned to Bloomington .
The furniture was knee high , the rooms almost
bare , the doors made to slide , the wall cupboards
with deep shelves on which the mattresses and bedding
lay ready to be made into beds on the floor at night .
What a comfort and a feeling of safety I felt in my
floor bed . No fear of falling !
Our largest room opened onto a red-carpeted ,
glass enclosed balcony and outside a garden extend �ed
around the sides and back of the hotel . It had just
rained a bit and the afternoon sun glinted on the
leaves .
That afternoon two close friends of Miss Takata
arrived to spend this vacation time with us , Miss Ta-
bei and her nephew , Mr. Kawamura . Miss Tabei did not
speak English but she understood much of what was
said . Mr. Kawamura expressed himself fluently ; he
had spent a number of years in New York and Los Ange-
les in business firms .
The four days went rapidly . One beautifully
cool afternoon we had a car trip through the moun-
tains , along a large lake and by villages and private
estates . We ended the afternoon with a walking tour
in Gora's small but perfect park and visited a ceram-
ic display of Japanese treasures in the museum .
In fact our four days went too rapidly . After
it was agreed that I would record something of Miss
Takata ' s interesting life , every spare moment was
taken with questions and answers . I became increas-
i ngly fascinated with the new ideas she presented to
me as she told of her early life . When we parted she
promised to send more of her life story by letter ,
and she did .
That very winter Toshi wrote to us in Blooming-
ton from Laguna Hills , California . She was visiting
in Ruth Strickland's new home and was to stay through
the holiday season . This was to be her last trip
across the invisible Bridge . She had come by " Jumbo "

on the Japanese Airlines on this , her fifth visit to
the United States and she wrote of the new experiences
with Ruth and others she knew in the Los Angeles area ,
among them , Mrs . Ruth Tooze . She wrote , " I peeped at
many things among the so-called intellectual woman's
life . It is most interesting to me . "
Ruth wrote to us at Bloomington , " She was with
me for six weeks at Christmas in 1970 and we gave two
Japanese dinners, about twenty-five guests in all .
Toshi reveled in the preparation and in the parties
themselves and was alway s gracious . taking pains when-
ever possible and suitable , to teach us more about
Japan .
"When we entertained she was always ready to
tell of experiences at home , at school and in her
work. After each dinner she told of the first mis-
sionary school for girls in Japan that she attended ,
and how she herself had been ' brought up ' in her home .
She was interested in the progress women were making
in Japan though she was not a woman's rights worker .
She rarely talked of her war experien ces and hard-
ships though she wouldf , if asked .
"Flower arrangement in the traditional Japanese
style was not Toshi's forte . I think she had not
made any great study of it because her time as a
school girl had been filled with academic pursuits
more to her interest. Neither did I feel that she
spent much time with the timehonored tea ceremony
that many girls did in their secondary school years .
She rarely suggested presenting it . I presume that
in a mission school she attended , these were consider-
ed of less importance than they were in publicly sup-
ported secondary schools Japanese schools .
"She was a popular little lady among my friends
at Laguna Hills . "

　XIX. PEACEFUL DEPARTURE 　

While with Ruth St 池ickland , Toshi had thought of putting one more big room on the second floor of the Kawasaki building for the use of children . She wrote to Bloomington friends , " Ruth suggests that I do it right away ; then I could put a neat period to all my work there . "
Though Miss Takata was teaching again the day after she returned from her holiday visit , she also began plans for the large room . The plans went so rapidly that she was soon negotiating with a bank which offered a larger loan than was needed . The building process began in May, was soon finished and in use . It was to be paid for in payments over ten years time . " No end to the story to tell you how I could manage this ! " she wrote .
A summer letter recounted all this and explained why she had been " busy in both body and mind . " She further escribed herself as a main speaker at the centenary anniver ﾎsary of her high school , Kyoritsu Gakuen Mission School . Her letter describing something of that experience is given in a previous chapter relating her Mission education .
During the year of 1971 and 1972 she continued her responsibilities in the school and church and when vacation time came she went out of town with various friends . She visited a loved niece and family. Her letters continued to recount various past experiences in random as they came to mind .
By September she suffered a serious stroke that affected her speech and paralyzed her . She was in the hospital for eight months and was , of course , unable to respond to her many Christmas and New Year greeting cards . Gradually she became able to writeand to send informative letters scattered with memories of the past .
She was able to observe herself as she lay seriously ill . She later wrote of not being able to speak Japanese when she w ・s still so seriously affected . She understood what the doctors discussed as they studied her and her doctor's previous notations on her medical records , but when she spoke no one understood . Finally a doctor came who had studied at Temple University in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania in the United States , and when he spoke to her she an-
swered him in English instead of her Japanese . This continued for a few days and other doctors who could
not speak English well , wrote to her in English what they wanted to know .
She puzzled these days as to why she couldn't speak her own language . The answer finally came to mind . English has only twenty-six alphabet letters while Japanese has forty-nine mixed with Chinese characters . It is easier to make sounds in English than in the complicated Japanese and she told her doctor her answer . His reply was , " Well , I never thought of that . I'll study it carefully and write up the experience some day . "
Miss Takata be tcame a favorite at the hospital and the young nurses came willingly to help her and ask her to teach them English . The same doctor went to the United States for a two-week conference and when he returned he came back to see Toshi before going to his office . By that time she could talk Japanese again and his question was , " When and where did you learn to talk such beautiful Japanese ? " She explained that she always talked politely to doctors .
She then wrote , " This shows how you ought to be proud of your own language , Elsie ; it is easy to talk
and easy to make yourself understood . "
By the fall months , she recovered sufficiently to teach one hour a day , Mondays through Thursdays .

She insisted that these four days brought her cheer with the young students and that she was gaining every day-physical health but not peace of mind . She wrote , " Please write and cheer me up."
Her last letter was written to Bloomington on February 6 , 1974 . " You must h 径ve been worrying about me since you haven't heard from me after receiving my message to you from Virginia (Crawford) . Nothing has happened and I am in good health but I simply haven't energy to take my pen up. . .It is too cold to leave my bed at seven so I stay until eleven , then have brunch at twelve . After my morning meditation I read the newspaper . I teach only one hour a day . What an empty life I 'm having ! "
She then repeated the account of a childhood experience when she was the youngest and the smallest student at the mission school for girls . She and the other students were pemitted on the last Saturday of each month to go outside the school grounds on short journeys . One Saturday she chose to go to a set of hills nearby, hills the girls named First Heaven , Second Heaven and Third Heaven . The stern director of the school , Miss Crosby, realized ｲthat Toshi misunderstood the word heaven , and called her to ask if she enjoyed " heaven ." Oh , yes , she had enjoyed it .
The large Anerican teacher took Toshi's small hands in hers and promised her that someday she would go to the real heaven more beautiful than she saw that afternoon . The forbidding Miss Crosby then kissed the little girl- Toshi's first kiss . And after that they were friends .
Toshi's letter ended with a dash of realism . " If you think this kind of writing is O.K. , I'll do it easily . "

One April Ist. 1974 , Toshi Takata suddenly beame very ill and partially paralyzed . Her Doctor Matsuda came and gave treatment and Mr . Takahashi sat by her as she slept the following few hours. He wrote , " She never returned to herself . She departed us at 2 : 30 that afternoon . It was , to our great consolation , such a peaceful departure . "
Her funeral service , was prepared and attended by those who had received so much of her care . She was carried from the Kawasaki Chapel through the garden lined with friends and pupils . Over the years the garden had represented to many the great truth that God can make beautiful and peaceful the world of nature .
Thus it was that Toshi Takata departed this life among the people of her home , her school and her church . The traditional family grave in Mishima received her ashes where they rest with those of her parents and ancestors .

She was blessed with a privileged childhood .
She grew to maturity in a freedom-loving Christian family .
She mastered the art of teaching in the languages of two cultures .
She joined in her living the better values of Japan with the better values of America- a sainted go-between .
All who knew her were enriched .

She planned carefully for the aid and nurture of young Japanese Christians by establishing the Takata
Scholarship Society .

The last Sunday in March of each year has been set aside for the Toshi Takata memorial service .
May many seek to continue in their lives her faith and zest and genius for making friends .