ABE, ISOO

A leader of the social democratic movement in Japan, born in Fukoka perfecture in northern Kyushu. He graduated from Doshisa University in Kyoto in 1884, and then went to the United States where he studied at Hartford Theological Seminary. On returning to Japan, he became a professor, first at his alma mater and later at Waseda University in Tokyo. His deep concern with social problems prompted him to join with Sen Katayama and others in establishing the Social Democratic Party, which was quickly supressed by the government. Nine years later, after the Kotoku Denjiro plot to assassinate the Emperor, he withdrew from active socialist movements, but in 1928 he resumed his activities and became president of the Social Mass party. He served in the Japanese House of Representatives for four terms and was a member of the Tokyo municipal assembly. Abe was famed as the first collegiate baseball coach in Japan.