| Abbreviation | JABA |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1976 |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California |
President | Harumi Hata |
President-Elect | Colin M. Kawaguchi |
Vice President | Emily T. Kuwahara |
Vice President | Gary Tokumori |
| Website | https://www.jabaonline.org/ |
The Japanese American Bar Association (JABA) is an American legal organization offering Japanese American legal professionals a forum to discuss issues and network. It has been on the forefront of advocacy on many issues affecting Japanese Americans. [1] It is based in Los Angeles, California and was founded in 1976. [2]
The organization holds an annual gala where it honors members of the community for impactful work on behalf of the community. [3] [4] The gala is also where new members of the organization's board of governors get sworn in. [1]
The organization has a number of regional chapters as well as a number of working groups. [5]
In 2017, JABA led the successful effort urging the Supreme Court of California to grant Japanese-American Sei Fujii honorary membership in the State Bar of California. [6] JABA has been active in providing legal support to survivors of the incarceration of Japanese Americans in appealing incorrect redress denials since the passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. [7]
Little Tokyo, also known as Little Tokyo Historic District, is an ethnically Japanese American district in downtown Los Angeles and the heart of the largest Japanese-American population in North America. It is the largest and most populous of only three official Japantowns in the United States, all of which are in California. Founded around the beginning of the 20th century, the area, sometimes called Lil' Tokyo, J-Town, Shō-Tōkyō (小東京), is the cultural center for Japanese Americans in Southern California. It was declared a National Historic Landmark District in 1995.
Dale Minami is a prominent Japanese American civil rights and personal injury lawyer based in San Francisco, California. He is best known for his work leading the legal team that overturned the conviction of Fred Korematsu, whose defiance of the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II led to Korematsu v. United States, which is widely considered one of the worst and most racist Supreme Court decisions in American history.
The Rafu Shimpo is a Japanese-English language newspaper based in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California and is the largest bilingual English-Japanese daily newspaper in the United States. As of February 2021, it is published online daily. In print publication is only on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

Densho is a nonprofit organization based in Seattle, Washington whose mission is “to preserve and share history of the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans to promote equity and justice today.” Densho collects video oral histories, photos, documents, and other primary source materials regarding Japanese American history, with a focus on the World War II period and the incarceration of Japanese Americans. Densho offers a free digital archive of these primary sources. It also maintains an online encyclopedia of notable Japanese Americans and related topics and an educational curricula.
Soji Kashiwagi is a Sansei journalist, playwright and producer. He is the Executive Producer for the Grateful Crane Ensemble theatre company in Los Angeles. He has contributed to The Rafu Shimpo with his column, "Corner Store." He is the son of Nisei playwright Hiroshi Kashiwagi.
Hokubei Mainichi Newspaper, more usually known as Hokubei Mainichi, was a Japanese language newspaper published from 1948 to 2009. It was Northern California’s only Japanese American bilingual newspaper after the closure of the Nichi Bei Times on September 10, 2009. It was published by Hokubei Mainichi, Inc., headquartered in San Francisco.
The Chicago Shimpo, published by Chicago Shimpo, Inc., is a Japanese-American newspaper published for readers in the Chicago, Illinois area. As of 1995 it was published twice weekly. It is currently headquartered in Arlington Heights, Illinois, and its offices were previously located in Albany Park, Chicago. The Chicago Shimpo, which publishes articles in Japanese and English, is the only Japanese-American newspaper in the Chicago media market.
The Nichi Bei Times is a Japanese American news agency operated by the Nichi Bei Foundation and headquartered in San Francisco. As of 2009 it was the oldest Japanese American newspaper in Northern California.
Frances Kazuko Hashimoto was an American businesswoman, schoolteacher, and social activist. She was a key figure and proponent of Los Angeles' Little Tokyo neighborhood. She was the head of Mikawaya confectionery company since 1970, where Hashimoto, the inventor of mochi ice cream, also introduced the dessert to American consumers.
Chizuko Judy Sugita de Queiroz is an American artist and art educator; her paintings depict her memories of a childhood during the Japanese American internment.
David Ono is a Japanese American filmmaker and news anchor for KABC-TV Channel 7 in Los Angeles, California. He is the co-anchor for ABC7 Eyewitness News at 4 and 6 p.m. with Ellen Leyva. He also fills in for co-anchor Marc Brown at 5 and 11 P.M.
LA EigaFest, is an annual film festival held in Los Angeles, California hosted by the Japan Film Society. It showcases the latest Japanese films to the American audience. The festival also hosts a Shorts Competition and a Business Panel every year. "Eiga" is the Japanese term for "Film."
Mia F Yamamoto, is a Los Angeles-based criminal defense attorney and civil rights activist. Yamamoto is a transgender woman of Japanese American descent, born in the Poston War Relocation Center during World War II.
Willie Ito is an American retired animator. He worked for Walt Disney Animation Studios in the 1950s, moved to Warner Bros. Cartoons and Hanna-Barbera Productions as a character designer, and later returned to Disney.
Japanese Cemetery was founded in 1901 and is located at 1300 Hillside Boulevard in Colma, California. This cemetery has brought together the Japanese community in California and has worked with Buddhist, Shinto, and Christian religious organizations.
T. K. Shindo was a Japanese photographer.
Takayo "Rose" Matsui Ochi was a Japanese-American attorney and civil rights activist notable for fighting for the approval of the Manzanar to become a National Historic Site and being the first Asian American woman to be appointed at the United States Assistant Attorney General level by President Bill Clinton. She was also the first Asian American to be appointed to the Los Angeles Police Commission.

The National Japanese American Historical Society (NJAHS) is an American 501(c) 3 non-profit organization based in Japantown in San Francisco, California.
Takahashi Trading Company is a former Japanese-import home goods retail and wholesale business in the United States, and is the name of a 1912 warehouse building that once housed the business headquarters in the Potrero Hill neighborhood in San Francisco, California, U.S.. The business was active from 1945 until 2019, and had various retail locations nationwide. It was founded by the Japanese–American couple, Henri Takahashi and Tomoye "Tami" Takahashi.