Fumiko Hachiya Wasserman

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

Family’s Japanese roots and values The lack of discussion about family’s incarceration in Amache Her desire to help at-risk and dependent youth Her motto came from her mother Unique perspective that a judge can bring to community organizations How she transitioned from anthropology to law Mother founded Japanese language school in neighbors’ backyard

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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.

education identity japanese american roots values Amache camps incarceration photographs World War II government judge Superior Court youth respect value community organizations career law japanese school language