Cold Spring Harbor, New York: N.P., 1945. 9” x 6”. Stapled thin card wrappers. Pp. 48 including photographic author frontis. Very good: wrappers a bit spotted, rear with a small blemish to lower edge and damp stain to top, both extending to last few leaves; occasional light spotting, mostly at edges.

This is the scarce and fascinating life story of an important physician, community activist, and the first Japanese immigrant to obtain a medical license in the United States, Toyohiko Campbell Takami.

The introduction to the book revealed that it was “essentially” an autobiography, compiled by Takami's son in 1945, the year of his death:

“. . . when the precarious state of my father's health forced him to retire from most of his activities, Mother induced him to take pen in hand and write of his life . . . whether by chance or design, he completed the narration of that portion of his life it was not our privilege to share . . . His life has always been a constant source of inspiration to me – and to all who knew him.”

The work covers Takami's life from his “Boyhood in Japan,” extraordinary voyage to the United States and education, to his marriage and the early years of his medical practice in Brooklyn. An “Addendum” shared the facts of his later life, including that in 1907 he founded and served as first president of the Japanese Mutual Aid Society (now the Japanese American Association), also serving as president for several later terms, and chaired the dermatology department at Cumberland Hospital for many years. He ran a health clinic for poor and Japanese residents, was on the Board of Directors of three Japanese churches, and established a burial plot for Japanese Americans in the Mt. Olivet Cemetery of Queens. In 1940 he was awarded “the Order of the Sacred Treasure by the Emperor of Japan for his untiring efforts to bring about a closer understanding between the people of Japan and the people of the United States.”

The story revealed that Takami was born in 1875 in Kumamoto, Japan, “brought up in strict discipline in the atmosphere of a Samurai family.” As a teenager he traveled hundreds of miles by foot to reach Osaka and the chance to work his way aboard “a foreign ship.” He bought books to teach himself English and sailed out of Kobe in 1891, arriving after a dramatic and strenuous voyage at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Takami was head chef on a ship within a year, studying the Bible to improve his English, when he was introduced to “Miss Nancy E. Campbell, who conducted a Chinese Sunday School.” She financed his education at the Lawrenceville School of New Jersey (the second Japanese student to attend), where he played on the football team and was voted “Best All-Around Man” at graduation. He also worked summers aboard New York City's Floating Hospital. Takami graduated from Cornell University's medical school in 1906 and began his training at Bellevue, the oldest public hospital in the country: “I came into contact with men and women and children who were forced by economic adversities to seek refuge in a charity hospital . . . I am sure that my six months at Bellevue Hospital did as much for my spiritual welfare as it did for my medical knowledge.” The book is complemented by a fullpage sketch illustration of Nancy Campbell, as well as six photographic images, revealing Takami among friends and the football team during his “College Days,” a shot of “The Young Practitioner” and one of his wife, Sona Oguri.

An uncommon and compelling story of a noted Japanese American doctor and community leader. OCLC shows six holdings over two entries, and a Google search revealed one other. Very good. Item #6056