Janet Miyoko Akaike-Toste was born April 2, 1949, in Kofu, Japan. Her American name, Janet, was given to her by her English teacher at a YMCA in Tokyo. She grew up with both parents and her younger brother, Jesse, in Tokyo.

Her journey to America was in the summer of 1960. She lived in California until she graduated from and began teaching at U.C. Berkeley. She married her husband, Anthony, in 1975 and had two children with him — Eriko and Emiko — whom they raised speaking Japanese and English.

It was in 1888 that the family moved to Springfield and Akaike-Toste and her husband both began jobs at Missouri State University.

Read all of Akaike-Toste’s story and the rest of the Ethnic Life Stories Project stories by clicking here.

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Music is Bach Cello Suite no. 3 by Colin Carr from the Free Music Archive.

Episodes are edited, recorded, mixed, and published by Diana Dudenhoeffer.