Interviews
From attorney to developer
Sure, it fits in pretty well. You know, I went to school here in Hawaii then got in and went back east to Georgetown University School of Business and the connection there primarily was family. My mom’s brothers and a bunch of her family – cousins…in fact when I went to Georgetown there were 7 other cousins that I had that were already attending Georgetown. So a strong family connection to that university sent me there. And it was also one of the best business schools that I could find on the east coast. And I was dead set on entering into a business school for my undergraduate education. And Georgetown also has a very good liberal arts program that I got to take advantage of as well. So that’s how I ended up back east in Washington, D.C.
I finished college a year early and decided, “Well, I could get a second major or I could maybe work on the Hill” and so I phoned my dad to see if he could get me an interview with Senator Inouye and I didn’t get one, but I got one with someone that was close to Senator Inouye and ended up getting a position there. And while I was there, I saw the importance of being able to understand the way bills become law, how laws are managed, and how they’re argued by attorneys and I thought that would be valuable for me to understand in my real estate business. So I applied to law schools, got into a bunch and ended up choosing Georgetown, staying in the same neighborhood.
Date: June 1, 2006
Location: Hawai'i, US
Interviewer: Akemi Kikumura Yano
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum
