As I finished my senior year of college, I found myself still yearning for a further cultural connection. Growing up as a multiracial yonsei Japanese American, I had very little cultural education until I entered my undergraduate degree at UC Santa Barbara (UCSB). As I neared graduation, despite being highly involved with UCSB’s Nikkei Student Union, as well as studying abroad at Waseda University in Tokyo in Spring 2023, I still felt that I was missing a piece of my identity. In particular, I wanted to look for an experience that would take me back to my roots as a Japanese American growing up in Los Angeles. Over the past few years, I have become especially concerned about the fate of Little Tokyo, the historic neighborhood that has long been home to much of Los Angeles’ Japanese American community. Unfortunately, Little Tokyo is now one of the most endangered historic places in America, and I wanted to do my part to ensure that our community’s legacy is not lost.
As such, finding out about the Nikkei Community Internship (NCI) through the Intercollegiate Nikkei Council seemed like fate. The Nikkei Community Internship, which spans 8 weeks, focuses on preserving the historical and cultural legacy of our remaining Japantowns. Our Southern California delegation is overseen by Kizuna, a Little Tokyo-based nonprofit that runs, amongst other things: a summer camp, a leadership development program, a board fellowship, and, of course, promotes cultural education and local events. Feeling like NCI was my perfect match, I immediately applied, and eventually matched with a collaborative internship between the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) and the Japanese American Bar Association (JABA).
This internship had a few major components: publishing an article about identity for Discover Nikkei's Nikkei Names 2 series, shadow days with JABA attorneys, weekly cultural and leadership development meetings with Kizuna, and, of course, further work on the Legal Pioneers Legacy Project. As one of two interns (I served with Melissa Segura, a rising fourth year at UC Davis), we spent our eight weeks immersing ourselves in our work. Melissa, who hopes to be an attorney, leaned heavily on the JABA side of operations, while I, an aspiring academic, chose to focus more on JANM. As the first interns to be co-serving together for this program (which has historically only had one intern), we both found it very helpful that we had the space to explore our own passions while assisting these esteemed organizations.
Our work with JANM primarily focused on Discover Nikkei. Throughout our time, we both published articles about our names and their correlation to our identities, as well as had the honor of being featured as Nimas of the Month. Our biggest project by far was working on the Legal Pioneers Legacy Project, which honors how pioneering jurists contributed to our community. For this project, Melissa and I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Michael Yamaki, an esteemed former criminal defense attorney, previous Director of Appointments for former California Governor Jerry Brown, and lifelong community advocate. Our interview with Mr. Yamaki was absolutely electric and inspirational, and I found myself touched by the legacy that he leaves our community with. Mr. Yamaki single-handedly changed the racial makeup of many California organizations by appointing minorities to several different boards during his time as Appointments Secretary. Beyond this, his work in building the Yellow Brotherhood and giving back to our community has truly shown me just how much each of us have the power to contribute to the causes we care about. After speaking with Mr. Yamaki, I feel empowered to continue pursuing my aspirations, and revitalized with the knowledge that there are many ways for us to organize our community.
JABA gave us the chance to visit the offices of several attorneys, including Harumi Hata (Buchalter), Mike Madokoro (Bowman and Brooke LLP), Mark Furuya (Turner Construction), and Staci Tomita (Shumener, Odson & Oh LLP). Each office visit was marked by a unique look into the daily lives of various attorneys, as each of them had different specializations. All of the JABA attorneys were extremely warm and inviting, and put in exceptional effort to make sure that our office visits were both informative and fun. Although I do not see myself going into law school, I still found the visits to be exceptional. For the first time, I felt genuinely reassured that Asian Americans belong everywhere. Whether it’s the law office or the museum, seeing other Japanese Americans in these professions reminded me that I have the freedom to pursue any career that I want.
Throughout our time with JABA, Melissa and I also had the opportunity to attend several exclusive events, including the Los Angeles County Unity Bar Inauguration celebration, a JABA board meeting, and the upcoming JABA 2024 gala, which will honor Mr. Yamaki. Our time with JABA was made extremely memorable by the generosity of JABA members, who always took the time out of their days to connect with us. Despite our youth and lack of legal experience, I never felt that they took us less seriously or spoke over us. Every single member of JABA has approached us with insight and kindness, and I have walked away from each event feeling like I have a genuine community looking out for me.
This internship would not have been possible without the support of Kizuna, particularly the leadership of Alan Takashi Riley. Our weekly meetings at Kizuna have not only taught me leadership skills, stress management, and how to balance my professional and personal life, but also introduced us to community leaders, taught us about Little Tokyo’s history, and opened important conversations about identity. In particular, our time visiting Go For Broke and discussing Little Tokyo’s rich and unique cultural legacy has truly opened my eyes to what it means to carry this identity. I will carry the lessons I have learned through Kizuna for the rest of my life, and I know the same can be said for every member of our Los Angeles 2024 cohort.
As our internship winds down, I find myself feeling lucky that my job is one where I come home from each day of work happy. I feel like my work matters. When I walk around Little Tokyo, I can now point out each landmark and discuss its importance. As I pass under lanterns by Little Tokyo’s marketplace, I am reminded of all the individuals who have fought to protect our beautiful legacy. I know that my summer with NCI has empowered me to become the individual I have always hoped to be: resilient, empowered, and hopeful.
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Watch Syd and co-intern Melissa Segura give their final internship presentation on August 6, 2024:
© 2024 Sydney Haupt
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