Interviews

1. Neighbor took care of her mother after grandfather was taken by FBI

2. Her grandfather was pressured to teach Japanese

3. Camp stories impact on her career

4. Japanese American identity

5. Importance of overcoming Asian American stereotypes

6. Challenges faced by female judges

7. Becoming first AA State Bar President in California

8. Receiving support from Sonia Sotomayer to run for the bench

9. Advice to young lawyers

Holly J. Fujie

Sansei judge on the Superior Court of Los Angeles County in California

Her grandfather was pressured to teach Japanese

My grandfather was imprisoned and he was being pressured to agree to teach Naval officers Japanese, and he wouldn’t do it. He said apparently in part because he thought they were going to get him agree to do that, and then ship him back to Japan as a traitor… so, but at some point, he figured it can’t get any worse so he agreed to to teach, and so he taught in Colorado and my mother was able to move out and attend Boulder High School in Boulder and then went to the University of Colorado before she came back and graduated from Berkeley.

education families grandfathers grandparents languages parents teaching World War II

Date: July 11, 2019

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Kayla Tanaka

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

Interviewee Bio

Judge Holly J. Fujie is a Sansei judge on the Superior Court of Los Angeles County in California since 2012. She grew up in West Oakland, California in a diverse neighborhood. Both of her parents were incarcerated as children during World War II, but did not share their experiences with her until she was an adult. This affected her view on laws and government and led her to pursue a career as an attorney and later as a judge.

As a lawyer, she became involved with various minority bar association, including the Japanese American Bar Association, and mentorship programs. She became the first Asian American President of the State Bar of California in 2008. (July 2019)

*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.

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