Interviews
The Other Two JA women lawyers in Los Angeles—Chiyoko Sakamoto and Madge Watai
We all knew each other, the three of us. (laugh) […] The other two were Chiyoko Sakamoto, who was—who practiced from before the war, and I think she had become a lawyer through working in a law office. There’s a method of becoming licensed by working in a law office, and I think she had done that, although I’m not positive. And she had an office somewhere I think along Jefferson or something like that. Her husband was a farmer in New Mexico, so she sort of went back and forth [between Los Angeles and New Mexico]. She was a wonderful, elegant lady. Then the other person was Madge Watai, who became a judge also. She was on—we were on the Municipal Court together, and on the Superior Court together. She retired some years ago. She’s now living in Tucson with her son. Chiyoko Sakamoto passed away some years ago, but I remember that Chiyoko Sakamoto came to the early meetings of JABA. And Madge was practicing with her husband in Gardena.
Date: July 10, 2012
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Lawrence Lan
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum; Japanese American Bar Association
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