I think it's probably because I was interned, yeah. And, you know, my sister grew up - my father had a nice position and she went to Maryknoll, she had the uniforms. They had a nice house. They had, she had a piano and she had a wonderful life. This poor woman got everything taken away from her and now she's - and I had, I was too young to have anything. So I didn't lose anything, other than, kind of, I guess I learned to be very angry. I'm not an angry person but, I mean, I have a low tolerance for injustice.
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum; Japanese American Bar Association
Interviewee Bio
Rose Matsui Ochi was born in East Los Angeles, California on December 15, 1938. Following the outbreak of World War II, young Ms. Ochi’s family was rounded up to live in the horse stables of the Santa Anita racetracks before being railroaded to Rohwer, one of America’s concentration camps for Japanese Americans at the time. Upon release, her parents were subjected to deportation, but were rescued by civil rights lawyers. Her family’s tragic experience taught her about injustices and about the power to right wrongs.
In order to fight for rights and social justice, Ms. Ochi decided to go into law. After earning a B.A. from University of California, Los Angeles and M.S. from California State University, Los Angeles, she earned a J.D. from Loyola Law School. She began her career as a ‘Reggie’, a poverty lawyer, at U.S.C. Western Center on Law and Poverty and served as the co-counsel of record in Serrano v. Priest, the landmark educational law reform case. Ms. Ochi has since served on the state bar and Legal Services Commission, has worked as a Disciplinary Referee, and was the first AA Board of Trustees member for the LA County Bar Association.
Recently, she helped to rescue Tuna Canyon WWII Detention Camp by getting Council approval for Historic Designation. She passed away in December 2020. (December 2020)