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Interviews

Wendy Shiba

(b. 1950) Corporate attorney, executive, and advocate promoting allyship and DEI
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Trying Mochi for the First Time

We never had Japanese New Year’s, which I now know is such an important day. When I was a paralegal in Philadelphia, I had one friend who was JA, and she invited me. She was from Bridgeton, New Jersey where a lot of Japanese Americans went to work in the canning factories on the East Coast.

So she called her mother and said she wanted to bring her friend home for the New Year’s weekend. And she said, “Her name is Wendy Shiba.” So Mrs. Kusamoto said, “Oh my God, is she Japanese?” And so the story goes that apparently Mrs. Kusamoto was not prepared for New Year’s and didn’t have any mochi.

So she went to the neighbors or to the local Buddhist church, and she begged, she said, “I have to have some, we’re having a guest.” So on New Year’s morning, we came down for breakfast and Mrs. Kusamoto fixed the mochi in the frying pan with shoyu and sugar and served it to us. And I took a bite and I said, “Oh, this is interesting.” I said, “This is good.” I said, “What is it?” And she turned to my friend, Anne, and said, “I thought you said she was Japanese.” So I’d never had mochi before.

celebrations food Japanese food mochi New Year traditions

Date: Jul 3, 2025

Location: California, US

Interviewer: Kaori Nemoto

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

Interviewee Bio

Born in 1950 to Nisei parents, Wendy Shiba grew up in the all-White suburb of Westlake, Ohio. Despite the lack of representation, Shiba pursued higher education as a first generation and first woman in her family to do so. After graduating Temple Law School at the top of her class, Shiba went on to work in several prestigious positions, including as a law clerk to California Supreme Court Associate Justice Stanley Mosk, a law professor, a Big Law corporate attorney, and a C-suite executive for a Fortune 500 company.

Through her professional experiences, Shiba developed a passion for promoting allyship, DEI, and mentorship within the workplace and in the community. She served as NAPABA president from 2012 through 2013 and was a board member for the Japanese American National Museum since 2009.

Shiba today advocates for marginalized communities as chair for the ABA’s Center for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She hopes young people will consider how to embody allyship for communities that are especially at risk for discrimination and face constant threats to their civil liberties today. (September 2025)

 

*This interview was conducted as part of the Japanese American Bar Association (JABA) Legacy Project by the Nikkei Community Internship (NCI) Program intern co-hosted by JABA and the Japanese American National Museum each summer.

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