Wakako Yamauchi, a pioneer playwright of the Japanese American experience, dies at 93

Wakako Yamauchi, the pioneering Japanese American playwright, short story writer and poet whose 1977 play "And the Soul Shall Dance" shed light on the harsh realities of the early 20th century immigrant experience, has died. She was 93.

Yamauchi died at home in Gardena, Calif., granddaughter Alyctra Matsushita said.

"And the Soul Shall Dance," Yamauchi's first play, was commissioned by the L.A.-based Asian American theater company East West Players and adapted from Yamauchi's short story of the same