Quick Facts
Biography
Chiyoko Sakamoto Takahashi (1912-1994) was California’s first Japanese American female lawyer.
She was born on June 30, 1912 in Los Angeles, California to Hisamatsu and Kume Sakamoto. In 1938, after earning her law degree from the American University Washington College of Law, Takahashi became the first Japanese American female admitted to practice law in California.
After being interned at the Granada Internment Camp during World War II, Takahashi worked thereafter in the employ of Hugh E. MacBeth, Esq. He was well-known for being a staunch defender of Japanese Americans during wartime. By the 1950s, Takahashi set up her own law practice. Her husband, who worked in the farming industry, was Tohru Takahashi. In addition to handling cases, Takahashi was also involved in her husband’s agricultural ventures and even served as the President of Kitty's Vegetable Distributors for locations in Arizona and California during the early 1980s. She died in 1994.