The only samurai colony ever attempted outside of Japan was in California
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The historic plaque honoring the former inhabitants of Wakamatsu Farm, the first home of Japanese immigrant families in the United States.NoeHill via Wikimedia Commons
The story of Okei Ito is more famous in Japan than it is in California.
In her hometown of Aizu-Wakamatsu, the teenage pioneer has her own shrine and her own folk song. Her story is taught in schools. And for decades, Japanese tourists have ventured all the way to a tiny town north of Placerville just to see her grave.
It is in a lonely place, set above a farm that was once populated by the only samurai colony ever attempted outside of Japan. Okei, just 17, arrived with them to care for the children of their leader. She did not take to the unfamiliar land, and for comfort she would climb that lonely hill to sit and sing.