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BN: Then what made you decide to go to law school?

WS: Let's see, I don't know. What year I did go to law school? I started at L.A., and it's terrible, it's so competitive, people holding back information that they have and so on, very competitive. I think I went a year or so, night school here, and then I sold my house and went to Denver, right? I had a friend from UCLA who went to, became a lawyer in Denver. And then my brother was there for a while, so I moved to Denver and went to Denver law school, which was really much more fun. Not as competitive and stuff like that, it was very nice. Yeah, it was good. I had a, I was active in L.A., right? And this Marian Takagi, her husband wanted to go to law school. So we were going to go to law school together, and he got sick and he ended up becoming a professor. And they moved up to Berkeley, I think.

BN: So after you finished in Denver, did you stay out in Denver?

WS: No.

BN: You came back?

WS: Came back.

BN: And then you took the bar in California?

WS: Right. I didn't know whether they'd allow me to...

BN: Was there, at that time, was there an issue being Japanese American and entering law?

WS: No. There was an anti-Communist thing going on. So I didn't know whether they would accept me. I had to go through a whole thing to become a lawyer. I think I went to some kind of hearing or something, I don't know.

BN: This is because of all the types of activity we're talking about.

WS: But they allowed me in. I know, ready or not, I got in.

BN: So you were able to practice?

WS: Yeah.

BN: So did you have a partnership?

WS: No, I joined a group in Gardena. I don't know.

BN: And what kinds of law did you --

WS: Just general stuff, yeah.

BN: In Gardena?

WS: Something like that.

BN: I'm sorry? Did you move to Gardena at that point?

WS: Yeah, I did. I moved to Torrance, I think.

BN: Torrance, at that time, was that not restricted, or could Japanese move there?

WS: I don't know. I bought a house on Thirty-fifth and Vermont. And then I moved, sold that house and bought a house in Torrance.

BN: Do you remember about what year? Because Torrance was pretty white at that time. While you were in your law practice, did you continue to be active in JACL and other organizations?

WS: I think so. This law practice, you've got to have rich clients, otherwise... I don't know. It's fun, law school was fun.

<End Segment 15> - Copyright © 2019 Densho. All Rights Reserved.