Interviews

1. The Kona Island community

2. Going to Japanese school

3. Starting work at five years old

4. Traveling the world seven times

5. Remembering December 7, 1941

6. Being an American soldier and an "enemy alien"

7. Volunteering to serve for the U.S. military in Japan

8. Meeting Japanese Americans from the mainland in MIS

9. Awareness of concentration camps as a Japanese American

10. Not relating to Japan Americans' experiences on the mainland

11. Visiting family in Japan

12. Being stationed in Japan during the American occupation

13. Rebuilding Japan

14. Investigating labor movements in Japan

15. Feeling closer to Japan as a Japanese American

16. Serving as a lawyer to Americans in Japan

17. To serve as a lawyer

18. Defining the term Nikkei

Francis Y. Sogi

(1923-2011) Lawyer, MIS veteran, founder of Francis and Sarah Sogi Foundation

Remembering December 7, 1941

I was living at that time at 944 Cook Street in Honolulu. As a freshman I had entered University of Hawai`i in September of 1941. I was studying on that day, I believe it was a Sunday, a holiday. I was at home studying and listening to the radio at the same time. And at about six, seven AM in the morning the radio announcer said, "There is a massive maneuver going on above Pearl Harbor," and he kept on describing what was happening. He said after awhile, he said, “No, this is not a maneuver." He said, "This is the real McCoy!” And he said, “Real McCoy! Real McCoy!” And then he said it is reported that they saw on the planes the rising sun red ball on the wings of the airplanes. So we knew of course that Japanese navy was attacking Pearl Harbor. Also, soon after, as a freshmen at the University of Hawai`i, I was required to take Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) course for one hour every morning seven o’ clock. The radio announced that all ROTC students should report to the armory nearby. And I reported to the army and we were sworn in to the Hawai`i Territorial Guard. They gave us uniforms. And what we did in the guard was to guard not military installations, but electric plants and water supplies, equipment sources, and places like that.

World War II

Date: May 29, 2006

Location: Hawai`i, US

Interviewer: Akemi Kikumura Yano

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Francis "FranK" Y. Sogi was born in Lanihau, Kona, on the Big Island of Hawai‘i in 1923, the youngest of five children born to Issei parents who farmed vegetables, bananas and coffee.

Francis began studies at the University of Hawai‘i (UH) in 1941 at 18 years old, and—as required--served in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (R.O.T.C.) to prepare for military service. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, all R.O.T.C. students were inducted into the Hawai‘i Territorial Guard. However, he was soon discharged as being an “enemy alien,” and he returned to UH to continue his education. Men at UH with knowledge of the Japanese language were being recruited to join the United States Military Intelligence Service, so Francis volunteered and in 1944 was sent to Camp Savage and Fort Snelling, Minnesota, for training.

After serving in Japan, translating documents for the U.S. counterintelligence corps, he once again enrolled at UH in 1947. He completed his studies in 1949 and went on to Fordham Law School in New York City while his wife, Sarah, attended Columbia University. He passed the bar exam in December 1952 and was admitted to the New York state bar. In 1953, Frank was asked to serve at the Tokyo office of the law firm of Hunt, Hill and Betts and represented Fortune 500 companies doing license agreements, joint ventures and investments of all kinds. From 1959 - 1984 he was with Miller Montgomery Spalding & Sogi, and in 1984 he joined Kelley Drye & Warren until his retirement in 1993.

Because of their growing philanthropic interests, Francis and his wife Sarah created the Francis and Sarah Sogi Foundation, a charitable foundation that currently supports the work of several non-profit organizations.

He passed away on November 3, 2011(November 2011)

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