List of first minority male lawyers and judges in Hawaii

This is a list of the first minority male lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Hawaii. It includes the year in which the men were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are other distinctions such as the first minority men in their state to obtain a law degree or become a political figure.

Firsts in state history

Kamehameha III: First male of Native Hawaiian descent to act as the Chief Justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court (1840)

Thomas McCants Stewart: First African American male lawyer in Hawaii (1875)

Joseph Nāwahī: First Native Hawaiian male lawyer in Hawaii (1888)

Lawyers

• Keigoro Katsura (c. 1855):[1] First male lawyer of Japanese descent in Hawaii
• Thomas McCants Stewart (1875):[2] First African American male lawyer in Hawaii
• Joseph Nāwahī (c. 1888):[3][4][5] First Native Hawaiian male lawyer in Hawaii
• Arthur K. Ozawa (1910):[6] First Japanese American male to pass the Hawaii Bar
• Pablo Manlapit (1919):[7] First Filipino male licensed to practice law in Hawaii
• Peter Aduja and Ben Menor (1953):[8][9] First Filipino male lawyers admitted to the Hawaii State Bar

State

• William F. Crockett:[10][11] First known African American male judge in Hawaii (c. 1900s)
• Tomekichi Okino:[12] First Asian American male to serve as a magistrate in Hawaii (1931)

Circuit Court

• Chuck Mau:[13][14] First Chinese American male appointed as a circuit court judge in Hawaii (1950)[15]
• Robert K. Murakami:[12] First Asian American male (who was of Japanese descent) to serve as a Judge of the First Circuit Court in Hawaii (1953)
• Ben Menor:[13][16][17] First Filipino American male appointed as a circuit court judge in Hawaii (1968)

Supreme Court

• Kamehameha III:[18] First male of Native Hawaiian descent (who was a king) to serve as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Hawaii (1840)
• Masaji Marumoto:[13][19] First Japanese American male to serve as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Hawaii (1956-1960—Territory of Hawaii; 1967-1973)
• Wilfred Tsukiyama (c. 1924):[13][20][21] First Japanese American male to serve as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Hawaii (1959)
• Ben Menor:[13][16][17] First Filipino American male to serve as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Hawaii (1974)
• Ronald Moon:[13][22] First Korean American male to serve as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Hawaii (1993)

Court of Claims

• Shiro Kashiwa (1936):[23] First Japanese American male appointed as a Judge of the U.S. Court of Claims (1972)

District Court

• Dick Yin Wong (1950):[24] First Asian American male appointed to the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii (1975)

Appellate Court

• Shiro Kashiwa (1936):[23] First Japanese American male appointed as a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (1982)

Attorney General

• Michiro Watanabe:[25] First Asian American male to serve as the Attorney General of the Territory of Hawaii (1952)
• Shiro Kashiwa (1936):[23] First Japanese American male to be appointed as the Attorney General of Hawaii (after it became a state in 1959)

Deputy Attorney General

• Chuck Mau:[13][14] First Chinese American male to serve as the Deputy Attorney General of Hawaii (c. 1936)

United States Attorney

• Yoshimi Hayashi:[26] First Japanese American male to serve as the United States Attorney in Hawaii (1967)

Political Office

• John D. Waiheʻe III (1976):[27] First male of Native Hawaiian descent (a lawyer) to serve as the Governor of Hawaii (1986-1994)

Bar Association

• Masaji Marumoto:[13][19] First Japanese American male to serve as the President of the Hawaii State Bar Association (1954)

Firsts in local history

Arranged alphabetically by county name

Honolulu County

• Masaji Marumoto:[12] First Japanese American male to serve as the Honolulu City and County Attorney (1933)
• Ralph T. Yamaguchi:[12] First Asian American male to serve as a deputy public prosecutor for the Honolulu district

See also

• List of first minority male lawyers and judges in the United States

Other topics of interest

• List of first women lawyers and judges in the United States
• List of first women lawyers and judges in Hawaii

References

1. Kimura, Yukiko (1992-01-01). Issei: Japanese Immigrants in Hawaii. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 9780824814816.
2. Smith, Jr., J. Clay (1999-01-01). Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer, 1844-1944. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 0812216857.
3. Court, Hawaii Supreme (1897). Reports of Decisions Rendered by the Supreme Court of the Hawaiian Islands. H.L. Sheldon.
4. "Ulukau: ʻŌiwi Vol. 1 (1998)". www.ulukau.org. Retrieved 2018-12-01.
5. Coffman, Tom (2016-08-01). Nation Within. Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822373988.
6. Tamura, Eileen (1994-01-01). Americanization, Acculturation, and Ethnic Identity: The Nisei Generation in Hawaii. University of Illinois Press. p. 241. ISBN 9780252063589. first japanese american lawyer arthur ozawa.
7. "Filipino Migration to the U.S.: Links". opmanong.ssc.hawaii.edu. Retrieved 2016-10-20.
8. From Mabuhay to Aloha: The Filipinos in Hawaii. Filipino Association of University Women. 1991.
9. "Peter Aduja, distinguished local Filipino | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper". the.honoluluadvertiser.com. Retrieved 2019-07-20.
10. Jackson, Miles M. (2004). They Followed the Trade Winds: African Americans in Hawaiʻi. Department of Sociology, University of Hawaii at Manoa. ISBN 978-0-8248-2965-0.
11. "Maui County finally honors its African-American history". mauitime.com. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
12. Tamura, Eileen (1993). Americanization, Acculturation, and Ethnic Identity: The Nisei Generation in Hawaii. University of Illinois Press. p. 241. ISBN 978-0-252-06358-9.
13. Martin, Mart (2018-04-24). The Almanac Of Women And Minorities In American Politics 2002. Routledge. ISBN 9780429976483.
14. Coffman, Tom (2003). The Island Edge of America: A Political History of Hawai'i. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 9780824826628.
15. Upon Mau’s appointment by President Harry S Truman to the First Circuit Court in 1950
16. "FAMOUS FILIPINOS". archives.starbulletin.com. November 22, 2005. Retrieved 2019-07-20.
17. Cordova, Dorothy C. L.; Fugita, Stephen S.; Chuong, Chung H.; Ng, Franklin; Singh, Jane (1999). Distinguished Asian Americans: A Biographical Dictionary. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313289026.
18. Vile, John R. (2003). Great American Judges: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781576079898.
19. Clarke, Thurston (2007-12-18). Pearl Harbor Ghosts: The Legacy of December 7, 1941. Random House Publishing Group. ISBN 9780307416360.
20. "Coe College History - People - Alumni - Wilfred Tsukiyama". www.public.coe.edu. Retrieved 2019-07-20.
21. "Wilfred Chomatsu Tsukiyama". archives.starbulletin.com. Retrieved 2019-07-20.
22. "For Moon, applying the law was foremost". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. 2010-09-19. Retrieved 2019-07-20.
23. Danico, Mary Yu (2014-08-19). Asian American Society: An Encyclopedia. SAGE Publications. ISBN 9781483365602.
24. Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the ... Congress. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1976.
25. "Wilfred Watanabe, respected ex-judge | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper". the.honoluluadvertiser.com. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
26. "Retired justice Yoshimi Hayashi | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper". the.honoluluadvertiser.com. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
27. Clapp, Jeanie J.; Bliss, Mary L. (1999). The American Bench. Reginald Bishop Forster & Associates. ISBN 9780931398391.