Shiro Sokabe

Shiro Sokabe (曽我部 四郎) (June 26, 1865 – July 3, 1949) was a Christian missionary from Japan who ministered in Honomu, Hawaii. He was known as the "Samurai Missionary"

Early life

Sokabe was born in Fukuoka, Japan on June 26, 1865. He was the oldest son Michiyue Sokabe, a samurai, and had a stepmother named Yone. His father's strict nature led Sokabe to run away from home as a teenager, wandering southern Japan until he reached Imabari, Ehime prefecture in 1883. He was taken in by Tokio Yokoi and converted to Christianity.[1] During this time, he also became friends with Kenjiro Tokutomi.[2] In 1885 he began studying at the Oye Gijuku in Kumamoto, but when the school closed down in 1886, he went to Kyoto to study at Doshisha University. Sokabe left university without graduating in 1890. He then went to Nara and Gunma for a few years each before being recruited to become a missionary in Hawaii by Jiro Okabe in 1894.[3]

Honomu

Sokabe arrived in Hawaii in March of 1894 and started the Hilo Coast United Church of Christ. He was surprised by the harsh treatment of Japanese immigrant workers at the sugar plantations. He returned to Japan in 1896 to marry Shika Nakagawa and bring her back to Hawaii. They left her son in Japan to finish school, and he joined them in Hawaii in 1906. In 1897, Sokabe founded the Honomu Gijuku, a Japanese-language boarding school. It was also known as the Honomu Christian Boarding School.[4] At its peak, the school had 150 students, and served 1,500 students over its lifetime.[5] It was also a shelter for abused women, runaways, and the homeless.[6] The campus expanded once in 1900, and again in 1908. After Shika passed away in 1920, Sokabe held a fundraising drive to build a new chapel in her memory, but was not successful, falling $3000 short.[2]

Sokabe was open-minded about the texts he would quote while preaching and the places he would take students to while teaching. While he preached the Christian faith, his foremost concern was for people of all denominations and religions. He helped to build a Soto Buddhist temple.[7]

Sokabe retired in 1942, and died on July 3, 1949. He wanted everything that he had written destroyed upon his death.[2] Throughout his life, Sokabe was called the "Samurai Missionary", and continues to be remembered as such after his death.[8]

Further reading
  • Nakano, Jiro (1984). Samurai Missionary: the Reverend Shiro Sokabe. Honolulu, HI: Hawaii Conference of the United Church of Christ.

See also

References
  1. Tom., Coffman (2003). The island edge of America : a political history of Hawai'i. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. ISBN 0585478856. OCLC 53481907.
  2. Imamura, Rio (November 21, 2012). "Samurai Missionary". Discover Nikkei. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  3. Japanese American history : an A-to-Z reference from 1868 to the present. Niiya, Brian., Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, Calif.). New York: Facts on File. 1993. ISBN 0816026807. OCLC 26853950.CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. Hawaii Evangelical Association (1899). Annual Report of the Hawaiian Evangelical Association.
  5. "'Samurai Missionary': Pioneering Japanese minister, plantation workers' advocate 'returns' to Honomu". Hawaii Tribune-Herald. 2016-09-28. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  6. The Columbia documentary history of the Asian American experience. Odo, Franklin. New York: Columbia University Press. 2002. ISBN 0231110308. OCLC 50747056.CS1 maint: others (link)
  7. Kondo, Makoto (2017). THE NEW POSSIBILITY OF MISSION IN JAPAN (PDF) (Doctor of Ministry thesis). Pacific School of Religion.
  8. "2017 Sokabe Fellowship Mission - Church Hilo Coast". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
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