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https://www.discovernikkei.org/en/interviews/clips/1654/

Unique perspective that a judge can bring to community organizations

I think being an attorney, or being a judge, in any organization, you can bring a perspective, an analysis that can help that organization.

By being a judge I was on the Torrance Symphony Board, because I really wanted to preserve music education in the schools. And by having the perspective I have, I can’t raise money, but I can come up with ideas of ways to have things happen.

On the Biomedical Research Institute Board, by being a judge, I brought a completely different perspective into this board that had some community members, but predominantly of doctors. And I think they realized the value of having someone with a legal background, because they expanded the board to include other attorneys and other judges since my term was up.

I think that we can bring our background to help organizations that we wish to — that are not in the legal field with — we can’t give legal advice, but we can guide them into thinking about areas that they never thought of in terms of their growth, their expansion, their mission statements, their goals.


communities judges nonprofit organizations

Date: July 27, 2018

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Kira Matsuno

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum; Japanese American Bar Association

Interviewee Bio

Judge Fumiko Hachiya Wasserman is a Sansei judge for the Superior Court of Los Angeles County in California. She was born in Torrance, California and grew up in Harbor City, California. She was the first Asian American female hired by the US Attorney’s office in the Civil Division, the first minority elected official in the Torrance School Board, and the first judge to ever serve on the LA Biomedical Research Institute. She currently serves in the Los Padrinos Courthouse as the site judge. She grew up in a diverse and welcoming neighborhood and felt secure in being Japanese American. She is involved with the Japanese American community, works to promote diversity, and she mentors lawyers and judges. (June 2018)

*This is one of the main projects completed by The Nikkei Community Internship (NCI) Program intern each summer, which the Japanese American Bar Association and the Japanese American National Museum have co-hosted.

George Ariyoshi
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Ethnic diversity

(b.1926) Democratic politician and three-term Governor of Hawai'i

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James Hirabayashi
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Christian gatherings in homes

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

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James Hirabayashi
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Not bringing shame to family

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

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James Hirabayashi
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Role of the Japanese American National Museum

(1926 - 2012) Scholar and professor of anthropology. Leader in the establishment of ethnic studies as an academic discipline

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Peggie Nishimura Bain
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Learning American cooking

(b.1909) Nisei from Washington. Incarcerated at Tule Lake and Minidoka during WWII. Resettled in Chicago after WWII

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Roger Shimomura
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Japanese American community life

(b. 1939) Japanese American painter, printmaker & professor

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Kimi Wakabayashi
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Her early life in Canada

(b.1912) Japanese Canadian Issei. Immigrated with husband to Canada in 1931

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George Azumano
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Downtown in Portland, Oregon

(b. 1918) Founder Azumano Travel

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Kip Fulbeck
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Lessons learned from The Hapa Project

(b. 1965) filmmaker and artist

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Alfredo Kato
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Peru Shimpo for the Nikkei community (Spanish)

(b. 1937) Professional journalist

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Bill Hashizume
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Japanese community in Mission

(b. 1922) Canadian Nisei who was unable to return to Canada from Japan until 1952

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PJ Hirabayashi
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Taiko as self-expression

Co-founder and creative director of San Jose Taiko

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PJ Hirabayashi
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A “principally-based” taiko group in England creating a global taiko community

Co-founder and creative director of San Jose Taiko

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Byron Glaser
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Growing up in a Japanese American community

Illustrator and designer

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Francis Y. Sogi
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The Kona Island community

(1923-2011) Lawyer, MIS veteran, founder of Francis and Sarah Sogi Foundation

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