# Talk:Ōyama Sutematsu

The current draft of the article says she was born Yamakawa Saki (山川 さき) on March 16, 1860, but there is no citation for that information. The only source I've found which mentions a birth date and name is Nimura's book, which says her first name was Sakiko and the birthday was February 24. I am updating the article to that information for now, but welcome additional sourcing to explain or resolve the conflicting information. ~ oulfis 🌸(talk) 00:40, 2 December 2019 (UTC)

The following don't seem like good suggestions for "further reading" to the general encyclopedia audience, but they may be worth investigating to improve the article, so I am moving them from there to here. ~ oulfis 🌸(talk) 20:46, 8 March 2020 (UTC)

Hotta, Eri (2013). Japan 1941. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 83–85.
Methodist Episcopal Church (1895). "Three Japanese Girls." The Heathen Woman's Friend. Vol. Vol. XXVII, July 1895, No.1. Boston: Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help)

...her options were limited, especially because she could not read or write Japanese...
...did not attend school, but was taught to read and write at home...  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.95.85.247 (talk) 11:22, 15 July 2020 (UTC) 

Nimura's biography indicates that Sutematsu quickly forgot how to read and write Japanese once Japanese texts were no longer available to her; she in fact only barely retained the ability to speak Japanese, and spent several months after her return to Japan struggling to communicate. I suppose I could try to find the page number to add that clarification to the article. I personally find this one of the interesting contradictions inherent in the mission she was sent on, that in order for her to fully learn American ways she was intentionally deprived of Japanese knowledge (eg making sure she lived separately from Shige so they couldn't speak Japanese at home) with the seemingly-predictable outcome that life in Japan was initially very difficult for her. ~ oulfis 🌸(talk) 21:40, 15 July 2020 (UTC)

CadnTheadn, I don’t understand why you are changing the lead to say she was one of six girls sent on the Iwakura Mission. The lead is meant to summarize the information cited in the body of the article, and the body of the article clearly states with citations that there were five girls. We even have a photo of the five of them! Can you explain why you think your change is more accurate? With sources that can be used to revise the body of the article if needed? ~ L 🌸 (talk) 18:37, 19 February 2024 (UTC)