Some 800 friends, relatives, politicians and royal family members attended a memorial service Thursday in Tokyo for Yukika Soma, known as the "mother of Japan's international aid activities," who died on Nov. 8 at age 96.
Among the mourners were Empress Michiko, Prince Tomohito of Mikasa, a cousin of Emperor Akihito, Prime Minister Taro Aso, and Yohei Kono, speaker of the House of Representatives.
Aso read his message of condolence, praising Soma's lifelong devotion to international aid and other charitable activities. One of Aso's younger sisters is married to Soma's oldest son, Kazutane.
The third daughter of Yukio Ozaki, a legendary politician known as "the god of constitutional politics" in Japan, Soma established a group to assist refugees in Indochina in 1979. The group has developed into the Association of Aid and Relief, Japan, one of the nation's leading nongovernmental aid organizations for refugees.
The gathering was held at the Parliamentary Museum.