was a Japanese activist and community leader in Hawaii. Her penname was Shigano Urako.

Early life

Soga was born Sei Tanizawa on September 30, 1882 in

Fukui prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Fukui Prefecture has a population of 778,943 (1 June 2017) and has a geographic area of 4,190 km2 (1,617 sq mi). Fukui Prefecture borders Ishikawa Prefecture to the north, Gi ...

, Japan. She was one of four children born to and his wife, Yasu. The family moved to Otsu in 1887. Soga's mother and brother died when she was eleven years old, so she took on the responsibility of managing a household at a young age. She graduated from high school in 1898. During high school she also helped in her father's campaign to be elected to the

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

. Once he was voted in, she went to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

with him when the Diet was in session.

Hawaii

Soga married Yasutaro Soga on January 9, 1911. After arriving in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

later that year, Soga joined several social organizations including the Japanese Women's Society, the

Women's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization, originating among women in the United States Prohibition movement. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program th ...

, and the Pan-Pacific Women's Organization. As part of the Japanese Women's Society, Soga served as head of the committee that supervised the organization's

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

for Japanese children born in Hawaii. Soga's husband was a prominent social figure, so she frequently entertained esteemed visitors like

Hideki Yukawa was a Japanese theoretical physicist and the first Japanese Nobel laureate for his prediction of the pi meson, or pion. Biography He was born as Hideki Ogawa in Tokyo and grew up in Kyoto with two older brothers, two older sisters, and two yo ...

and

Shoji Hamada A is a door, window or room divider used in traditional Japanese architecture, consisting of translucent (or transparent) sheets on a lattice frame. Where light transmission is not needed, the similar but opaque ''fusuma'' is used (oshiire ...

. During World War II, when Yasutaro was

incarcerated A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correcti ...

on the continent for four years, Soga volunteered with the

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...

and helped Shigeo, Yasutaro's son from his first marriage, manage the ''Hawaii Times''. Soga was well-known for her outspoken personality and commitment to Japanese traditions. While she assimilated into American society, she maintained her Japanese New Years' traditions, acted as a '' nakōdo'' for young couples, and had Shigeo and his wife live with her after they married. She and Yasutaro were also members of a local

noh is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Developed by Kan'ami and his son Zeami, it is the oldest major theatre art that is still regularly performed today. Although the terms Noh and ' ...

chanting group and a

tanka is a genre of classical Japanese poetry and one of the major genres of Japanese literature. Etymology Originally, in the time of the ''Man'yōshū'' (latter half of the eighth century AD), the term ''tanka'' was used to distinguish "short poem ...

poetry club. Soga wrote under the penname . Soga became an American citizen in 1954. She was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure in 1968 for her leadership in Hawaii's Japanese community. She died in Honolulu on August 8, 1970.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soga, Sei 1882 births 1970 deaths Japanese poets Japanese activists People from Fukui Prefecture Japanese emigrants to the United States Hawaii people of Japanese descent