 Aloha! My name is Nalan. I'm guest hosting today's Think Tech Hawaii's Law-Cross-the-Sea program for my friend Mark Shklav. Mark is currently on a combined family vacation and business trip in Asia. Our guest speaker today is my mentor, director, and a longtime friend of Mark, Ms. Christine Kubota, who is a practicing attorney in Hawaii with over 30 years of experience and expertise, serving Japanese-speaking clients in Hawaii and from Japan. To address the needs of her clients, Chris provides bilingual legal services to individuals, families, investors, and businesses who have connections with Japan locally and who come from Japan to Hawaii. Her practice includes business, real property transaction, dispute resolution, immigration law, estate planning, and employment law matters. Chris has devoted her passion, positive energy, and leadership to our community by serving as chair of the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii, Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce, United Japanese Society, and the Pan-Pacific Festival, where she continues to actively serve in addition to Hiroshima, Kenjinka, U.S. Japan Council, Honolulu Japanese Chamber Charitable Corporation, Hawaii Senior Life, Wailai Country Club, and Japanese Women's Society Foundation. Chris will help us familiarize with common legal issues faced by Japanese-speaking clients, share with us her valuable insights on how professionals, including attorneys, can better serve Japanese-speaking clients and provides us with the dos and don'ts on business culture and etiquette 101 in Japan. Welcome, Chris. Thank you. Thank you for having me, Na. Can you tell us more about your personal background and how you became attorney in the first place? Okay. I am a foreign-born American, which means I was born and raised in Japan, and my father is from Hawaii. So my father spoke to me in English, and my mother spoke to me in Japanese. So I was bi-cultural and bilingual from when I was a little girl. So I came to Hawaii when I graduated high school because there was an immigration law that said that all foreign-born Americans had to return to the United States before they were 27. So I came here where my grandfather was, my auntie was, this is where my father was born and raised, and went to college here. And then after graduation from college, I became a travel agent, and I loved to travel. So I took many of the local people to Asia and traveled. Because I was bilingual, I started to help people that needed translation services, which included lawyers. And I started interpreting at depositions or at meetings with attorneys. And almost, well, not almost, but a lot of cases that I helped, I ended up losing. And I didn't understand why these cases where Japanese investors were defrauded or they didn't understand the document and they couldn't get their money back. And I didn't understand why they kept losing. And so I asked one of the attorneys, how come we keep losing? And they said, Well, if you want to know, go to law school. So at the age of 30, I decided maybe I should do this. And I went back to law school on the mainland and got my degree and decided to come back and to help people. And this is your 31st year of practice. Congratulations. No, thank you. Before I know it's been 30 years. It was very scary for me at the beginning, because I was going to school with all these young smart people when I went back to law school. But the goal was I just want to make sure I'm a business lawyer. I always wanted to be a business lawyer. I was a entrepreneur after I graduated college. I just want to make sure that everybody is treated fairly. And just because you don't understand the language, I don't think it's fair that they're not on the same ground. So now it's very expensive. Litigation is very expensive. So long as everybody knows that what investment they're making, what the risks are, I think then it's a fair game. Yeah, you share with us more about your practice areas and your law for our law firm. Yes, our law firm, David Key, that we even have a book. So our book, we have a book because we are, we were established in 1964, Frank Damon, who has passed already started this law firm with Henry Shigekane, who was from Hilo. And he spoke only pigeon. And so but he was accepted at Yale, and Frank and Henry met at Yale. And that we were our firm is one of the first by racial firms in Honolulu. And it was very difficult for Asian Americans to get a legal job back in those days. And so I'm very proud of the fact that we started this multicultural environment for lawyers. And we're we've been around for a long time. My practice at Damon Key was to help Japanese national. So from day one, that was my job. Because during the late 80s, it was during the Japanese bubble. So I helped a lot of investors come to Hawaii. They built a business, they bought hotels, golf courses, open restaurants, etc, etc. I helped them to establish their company, make their investment, do their due diligence. And then they would have HR issues. And then they would die. And the widows having never been to America, not understanding what their husbands were doing, not understanding what the board of directors were telling the widows to do. I thought maybe we needed to address that. So I started doing a state plan work as well. So now, my practice encompasses not only business, not only immigration to bring them in, and not only HR and employment matters, but also a state plan. Director, resume is very impressive. And you serve it as board directors backing even starting in 98 on the worldwide affiliation of commercial law firms called Maritas. What is Maritas? Maritas is a group of midsize firms. And we were one of the founding firms. But we thought that we need to create an affiliation of law firms all over the world, because our clients needed help, not just in our jurisdiction, but everywhere. So we now have, I think, 170 member firms and 7000 lawyers we can go to. So as I was saying earlier in my career in the 80s and early 90s, I had clients that not only invested in Hawaii, but invested on the mainland, invested in Europe. So I could just make a call and say, Hello, Sweden, are you there? Or hello, France, are you there? Or hello, New York, are you there? And I don't have to worry about doing background work, because everybody that goes and becomes a member of Maritas has been checked. And we know that we can rely on them and trust them. And it was a very good network. So we've been with them from the very beginning. Yeah, it's wonderful. What are the common legal issues faced by your client? I think it depends on the client. I think there's three different categories. You're either a family type, or a small business, or a large business. So depending on the level of sophistication, I think it's different. But I think the biggest misconception is not just the culture, but Hawaii I think is very unique. Even if you do business in California, or in New York, I think Hawaii is very different. So I think that's the biggest challenge. And the biggest thing that all business people should understand that doing business in Hawaii is very unique. Of course, legally, we're very different from the laws of Japan. And so things are done differently. Usually contracts in Japan are two pages long, maybe max five. So when they see their lease being 100 pages long, and I asked them, did you read it? And they say, I don't read English, then it's very difficult for them to understand why they have to read it and understand it. And I tell them that if something happens, and it's on page 36, and you later tell me that I didn't read it, then it would be bad. And they said, Oh, I see. So it's very costly. You know, either you have to I have to explain it to them, or they have to get a translator, or they have to get it translated. So but it's very, very important. Yeah. What are the most important things you need to remember when you help them resolve issues? Due diligence, due diligence, due diligence. You, as I said earlier, it's just so expensive to litigate. So you just have to know what you're doing. I think it's very important, even if you're just buying a condo, condos here in Hawaii are very expensive. 350,000 maybe is is a minimum amount. But you have to read your condo bylaws, your declarations. I mean, it's very boring documentation. But you have to have somebody read it. You don't necessarily I mean, when I bought my condo, I didn't necessarily read every page. But you should have a professional read it and understand it if it isn't your realtor and your realtor isn't responsible for it. But you should understand why there is a declaration, why there are bylaws, why there are rules and regulations, what you can do on your premises, what you cannot do on your, it's all there. So it's, that's I think is important. I think you have to understand the rules of the game, for example, like insurance, how important that is, why you need endorsements, why you should get endorsements, why you don't need endorsements, why you have to get title insurance, why you don't need to, why you have escrow, things like that. I used to do a lot of seminars in Japan, just explaining escrow because Japan doesn't have escrow. I'm very surprised that Japan doesn't have escrow. And once you pay for a house, you can sometimes wait four days to close. And for me, that system is, is crazy. You know, once you give the money, why do you have to wait four days to get your house? I mean, to me, it's very, that's strange. But to them, it's like, who is escrow? Why am I paying them this money? What are they doing? You know, so I think it's just understanding the culture here, which I think is fair. I think it's good. And your team of people, your insurance agent, your realtor, your lawyer, your accountant, tax laws always change. A lot of people, for example, a lot of people call and say, Oh, can I change the title of my house to my daughter? Sure, you can. Is that a sale? Or is that a gift? What? You just changed the name? So you cannot. I mean, there's a consequence to everything you do, you know, and so can you just do that in Japan? And they think oh, not so I said the same thing here. You know, when you rent a apartment, you know, do you don't you pay tax on the income you make? Yes. And I said, you have to do the same thing here. And they get very surprised. So it's, it's like paradise to them. Why is paradise to them? So in paradise, you don't have tax, maybe. But that's not true. I mean, you know, they they're on vacation. So it's just very different, I think. And so you just have to pick them up, right? So for visitors in Westerners who are new to Hawaii, what helpful tips you have for to help them reduce or avoid any disputes or getting into trouble here? I think Hawaii is a consultant state. I think you just have to find the right consultants. You know, you have to I don't think you need a lot of consultants. But I think a few good ones will always help taxes always an issue. So I think a good CPA, somebody you can trust. If you end up living here, I think you should have a good doctor, a good support system. If your kids are in school, you need somebody to have pick up your kids if you can't go. I think that's important. It's just, it's like anywhere else, you just have to have a good support system, I think. Lawyers and are good only because it's just so expensive if something happens. If, for example, if you own a business and the lights go out because of some electrical problem, and you want to blame your landlord, you can't, you know, your shop has to close down. There are no lies. The cash register doesn't work. You don't make any money. You have to close the shop. And you want to sue your landlord, you cannot. The lease will say if the lights go out, you cannot sue your landlord. But if you didn't read your lease, you know, so things like that, you know, it's just yeah. So what is, well, congratulations. I heard that the Japanese Culture Center of Hawaii will be honoring you at the upcoming 2019, leaving the Aloha Spirit Gala. So you definitely actively involved in our community, you know, had a lot of commitment to depending the cross-culture relationship between Japan and Hawaii. Can you tell us more about the community associations, organizations you're involved in? It all started because one of my bosses at work, when I was an associate, one of the directors needed a date to go to these Japanese American functions, these nonprofit organizations. So I went with him and I ended up meeting a lot of interesting people. And that was with the Japanese Chamber of Commerce. And that is a business organization. But it's more than that. I think it's a place where you can meet a lot of local businesses and local people and different types of businesses. So if I needed a dentist or a painter or, you know, it was a great place to just meet people for everyday things. So I just got to, I just really got along with everybody. And before I knew it, I was in different committees and I participated a lot and I became the chair from there. It was kind of like, I don't know, it was kind of like a virus, I guess. I just thought giving back to the community was something I really liked doing. I liked helping seniors. I liked helping children. I liked helping students, especially those that were interested in the Japanese culture. I thought because of my bilingual and bicultural background, I thought maybe, you know, people wanted me to help and see how much I could, you know, teach the kids about Japan. Back in those days, you know, people didn't go to Japan as readily as they do now. So just talking about Japan and talking about the food, I would go to the senior care home and talk about the bentos. I mean, that kind of thing was just very easy for me. It was simple. It was just my time. And then I was chair for the Culture Center and the Culture Center has just wonderful things at their museum. And I learned so much about my own grandfather, my own grandmother. They have a beautiful library that you can do your own research. And it's just so deep. And you kind of find out your roots. You kind of find out why you are, because, you know, you find out who you are by reading about what they did and what they did for you. So I just got very interested in that. This year, I'm being honored with a variety of people like Alan Wong and Alan Oshima and the youth baseball team, softball team. And so it's really a hodgepodge of people, but I think they all in their own way gave to the community and were leaders in what they did. So I think it's, I'm really thankful that I'm being honored with them. It'll be fun because there will be all these little softball kids, you know. We'll learn a little bit about baseball, I think. Okay, so we'll have a short break due to the commercial and come back. Thank you. Aloha. I'm Lauren Pear, a host here at Think Tech Hawaii, a digital media company serving the people of Hawaii. We provide a video platform for citizen journalists to raise public awareness in Hawaii. We are a Hawaii nonprofit that depends on the generosity of its supporters to keep on going. We'd be grateful if you'd go to ThinkTechHawaii.com and make a donation to support us now. Thanks so much. Aloha and Mabuhay. My name is Amy Ortega Anderson, inviting you to join us every Tuesday here on Pinoy Power Hawaii. With Think Tech Hawaii, we come to your home at 12 noon every Tuesday. We invite you to listen, watch. For our mission of empowerment, we aim to enrich and lighten, educate, entertain, and we hope to empower. Again, Maraming, Salamatpo, Mabuhay, and Aloha. Welcome back to our Law Crosstacy program. Today we have Christine Kubota, practicing attorney with 30 years of experience connecting Hawaii and Japan in her practice. Christine, you probably need to work with a lot of professionals in Japan as a collaboration to serve your kind. How do the professionals practice their attorneys in Japan in comparison with here? What are the differences? The law generally is different. There are very many differences. The Bar here, the Hawaii State Bar Association here and the Bar Association in Japan work together. We travel back and forth, a bunch of lawyers go back and forth, and we do joint seminars so we can learn from each other. Every year we have different topics that we learn from. The CPAs, the Certified Public Accountants also, organizations come and we share that. We do visits with their courts. They do visits with our courts. So we have a pretty good relationship. We do a lot of programs. Realtors probably come. Japan didn't have a jury system until recently so when they first, they wanted to learn so they came and they asked the judges here about how the jury system works here. Things like that. We collaborate a lot. I think two years ago we have a very intense tax four-day seminar here that we've been holding for many, many years with many judges from the mainland and many lawyers from the mainland coming. It's a four-day tax seminar but we just started to make it bilingual so we have a one-day seminar with Japanese CPAs and attorneys that attend. So it's become very international I think. There's not just Japanese but many people from all over the world invest in Hawaii. So I think everybody's concerned about cross-cultural issues. So it's kind of a great place for all of us to meet and discuss things. Japan is also a very popular destination for our people in Hawaii. So for individuals who want to go to Japan to visit or for businesses who want to make an investment there do have some general good advice for them or some do's and don'ts they should be aware of before they spend their money. Well, when I was at the chamber we used to have seminars on how you're supposed to bow and how you're supposed to give your business cards and don't forget your omiage, right? So how you're supposed to be wrapping things. So I think those things are basics. I think there are a lot of books on it. I think the community colleges have classes on it. If you don't know anything I think it's good to read through the basics. But I think it's if it's business, I think the Japanese business people are very sophisticated so and obviously I think most of the time you're going to be speaking English. So it's not a necessity that you speak the language and they're very courteous and so I think you just have to go with the flow and I think it just depends on who you're dealing with. But I think the basics are the business and the bowing and things like that. I think the way you sit I think is another issue that a lot of people ask me about and just know again just like when they come here I think you just need to know who the consultants should be, who you should be speaking with. I think double checking everything just because one person says so. I mean there's bad people everywhere I think. You just have to be careful. So if you cannot find anybody at your destination I think you should find somebody here that will know somebody there that you trust that you can at least kind of bounce off some ideas because if you're going to be investing a lot of your time and energy as well as money I think it's important that you invest some time and money with you know somebody you can rely on. So for working professionals like attorneys serving Japanese clients here or serving any clients with Japanese connection how do we improve our services to our clients? Motenashi right? I mean that's the Olympic slogan but Japanese people are born to serve in a way. I mean it's like and they need immediate attention that's just the way they are. So a week is too long and so it's very difficult for Americans to understand that when they ask is it done yet is it done yet it's not done yet but they need to get things done right away especially if they're from the city they think that you're focused on them and so you have to the least you can do is give them notice that okay I will do this it will take three days so I'll get back to you in three days and now so if you if you can't get back in three days you have to be courteous and say on the second day I'm sorry I can't get it done by the third day so can you give me two more days so that's I think is very key it's just that they're very fast pace and Hawaii is very slow pace so the first thing I teach them is Hawaiian time and not that it's good or anything but it's just that people are not as on top of it perhaps as they are used to and things take a little bit more time you know so that's something that I think is really important. Omotenashi is a feeling I'm sure you've gone to Japanese restaurants right I mean you know so it's like they will think way ahead of you you know so if you are eating sashimi then they have to make sure that the correct shoyu is there and it's the shoyu for the sashimi and not the shoyu for the other thing or whatever I mean it's just go way ahead of you that they are thinking so they expect you are thinking that way too right so it's kind of like a game you have to like think ahead think ahead think ahead and see you know who's winning which is hard especially when you have when you need time to do research and law is not black and white you know so and they know that but it's just you have to be very specific and tell them that if I had a magic wand everything would be wonderful but I don't have a magic wand but it's better safe than sorry so it's always good to double check so you must have a lot of trips you know back to Japan can you share with us some interesting ones or the most memorable ones that strike well I don't know I go maybe three to four times a year the funniest thing was I had a client that came to see me many many times he loved Hawaii had many businesses here and he would come to visit my office all the time as I said earlier they're in the vacation mode right so they're coming shorts and slippers and t-shirts we would have business meetings blah blah blah so I would visit the one time the first time I went to visit him in Japan and I met him in my hotel lobby and I'm looking for him looking for him and I find him I'm thinking where is he where is he I know he I've met him like a million times and then here's this dude in a three-piece suit you know with this little cheap thing here and I'm looking at him in my way is that you and I'm thinking wow what happened to you and of course when he's in his own background he's like this totally different businessman you know and no wonder he's you know a successful businessman because and he has like five secretaries with him you know and so you know it reminded me that you know these men are successful right so kind of weird but that was one of the funniest another one was you know immigration is a very heartwarming area practice as you know yes and it really really I really love doing it now really changes somebody's life you know so I hope I can continue I'm so glad you joined us yes definitely yes so I think thank you so much for your time and we've learned a lot today and I'm definitely looking forward to visit Japan you know that's on my agenda next year so exciting and thank you so much everybody for listening to our show today and we'll be back in two weeks and mark will be back thank you so much it's such a pleasure to have Christine here today and thank you everybody