His haiku involved subjects then considered controversial for the form, including erotic sexuality, fictionalized scenarios, and mundane topics outside of nature.

During middle school, Sōjō himself began submitting haiku to Hototogisu ("Cuckoo"), the leading Japanese literary journal of the form, edited by the traditionalist poet Kyoshi Takahama.

He founded the student club the Kyo-Kanoko Haiku Society, which was later opened to the general public.

[1] In 1934 he published a 10-poem rensaku - a series of haiku about the same experience - featuring a fictionalized version of his honeymoon.

He wrote about a number of other non-traditional themes and advocated abandoning the kigo (the seasonal word) in haiku.