Sohei Hohri was a gentle man - by Leslee Inaba Wong

IN MEMORY OF SOHEI HOHRI

Sohei Hohri was a gentle man.

He embodied the best qualities of Japanese Americans. He was honest. He valued his integrity. He was complexly talented. He worked hard with great detail and commitment. And he was humble.

I remember a dinner with the Hohri brothers, William and Sohei. The occasion: the launching of one of William’s book in New York City.  A Chinese restaurant. A round table. William talking. Sohei next to him listening, agreeing, supporting. Proud of his brother’s accomplishments. I thought, this is how it must have been all their lives. Sohei –the, ‘I’ve-got- your- back- brother’.

He was part of us, part of the energy that galvanized the East Coast Japanese Americans for Redress/Reparations and continued into the Day of Remembrance Committee. We could count on him. Always. “Sohei, can you make certificates of appreciations to honor those who made our program happen?”  And they appeared. Beautiful. Hand lettered each one. True works of art from the artist in the man.

Years later I heard from a person from an entirely different part of his life. “You know Sohei Hohri? He was the librarian for the New York Yacht Club. He retired recently and is so highly regarded.” When I mentioned this to Sohei, he responded:  “A boat, wind, and water. That is all you need. Those three things, a boat, wind, and water.” He was not a yachting man. I don’t know if he ever set foot in a sail boat. But he vicariously enjoyed and respected the sport, condensing what other people spend millions of dollars and thousands of hours into its three basic elements.

Our New York Japanese American community is a geographically dispersed community. There is no central Little Tokyo, no J-Town. What centers us, our pillars, are people. The Kochiyamas, the Wadas, the Yuzawas, the Kanezawas, all helped bring us together and anchor us.  Sohei Hohri was one such pillar.

It was Taxi Wada who said to me, “Sohei Hohri is a gentle man.”  He will be missed.

With love and respect,

Leslee Inaba-Wong

June 30, 2015

 [Sohei and grandniece Tsuya at New York Day of Remembrance, 2003. Japanese American United Church]