By Kayla DeKraker
In an emotional 1953 essay posted by Guideposts, General Douglas MacArthur recounts the Thanksgiving story of Hachiro Yuasa, a young Japanese immigrant whose journey to America became a powerful testament about culture and Christianity.
Yuasa left Japan in 1908 at age 17 with the dream of coming to America to live the simple, Christian life of an American farmer and to later get his university education.
His family prayed to get a letter from young Yuasa, saying, “Our Heavenly Father, we come together again, as a family. Yet one of us is away. May Hachiro’s presence be with us through the warm letter he has written. In Christ’s name…”
However, the letter did not come for many years due to Yuasa’s initial disappointment in America. He did not experience the warmth and Christian culture he had dreamed of, but rather disrespect and prejudice. He ended up working as a cherry picker working long, gruesome hours.
“I am not a brother to Americans,” he said. “Our working crew is Japanese. Only the foreman is American…I feel better now. I have formed a layer of ice around my heart which protects me.”
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Yuasa eventually made his way into Kansas State University but still felt very bitter from his experiences. He later went to Urbana, Illinois, to work on his graduate degree.
It wasn’t until he experienced warmth and acceptance from Reverend and Mrs. Roger Augustine when they invited him to Thanksgiving dinner that things began to change in Yuasa’s heart.
Guideposts reported that “At the door he was greeted by a real smile, and Mr. Augustine took Hachiro’s hand in both of his. Hachiro smiled back reluctantly on his guard.”
The Reverend then prayed, “Our Father: We have come together strangers. Let us part forever friends.”
It was that night that Yuasa finally wrote the letter to his family, years later by that point.
In his letter, he wrote, “I was wrong when I looked for a whole government or a job or a school to respect me as an individual. This is not where to find Christianity. Love and kindliness are things that happen inside each separate man. The individual, the person-to-person relationship — that is the important thing.”
Yuasa moved back to Japan for a short time as a professor before quickly noticing the lack of freedom he experienced there. He moved back to American, where he followed his ultimate dreams and became president of International Christian University.
A 1949 article from TIME explained, “Long a dream of Christians on both sides of the Pacific, the I.C.U. will open in 1951, specializing in graduate courses.”
The I.C.U still exists today. It’s Tokyo location features the Hachiro Yuasa Memorial Museum to honor Yuasa and his brave endeavors.
This Thanksgiving, let us remember to enjoy the freedoms we have in America and show friends, family and strangers the love and kindness of Christ.
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