For Immediate Release:
January 30, 2020

Surrogate Peters hosts visit with
Judge and Senior Court Clerk from Japan

FREEHOLD, NJ – Monmouth County Surrogate Rosemarie D. Peters, Esq. recently hosted a visit to her office for Judge Tamotsu Takahashi of Hiroshima, Japan and Senior Court Clerk Sachi Kato of Shizuoka, Japan.

Judge Takahashi is in New Jersey through a State judicial program for one year to observe and learn about New Jersey’s laws and court system, with a particular interest in the juvenile justice system.

Senior Court Clerk Kato is here for a two-week visit and is focused on learning how guardianships of incapacitated persons are handled by Surrogates and the Superior Court in New Jersey. She hopes to bring back ideas from New Jersey’s Guardianship Monitoring Program to Japan, as that country’s elderly population has been increasing, along with a greater need for guardianships.

“New Jersey’s Judiciary has had a longstanding partnership with Japan for decades to help members of their judiciary gain knowledge of how the law works within our court system,” said Surrogate Peters. “This program has not only been a learning experience for our Japanese visitors, but also a great opportunity for us to benefit through the exchange of information.”

“I believe that the Monmouth County Surrogate’s Office was chosen for these visits because my office does an extremely efficient job of following up on guardianships to be sure that the court-appointed guardians comply with all reporting requirements,” said Surrogate Peters. “During the visit, we had the opportunity to meet with the Honorable Katie A. Gummer, Superior Court Judge of Monmouth County, to talk about her role in deciding guardianship cases.”

Judge Takahashi has been a judge for six years, and has served since 2017 at the Fukuyama Branch of Hiroshima District and Family Courts, hearing civil and criminal cases as an associate judge in a panel and juvenile delinquency cases. Clerk Kato has served as the Senior Court Clerk at Shizuoka Family Court Hamamatsu Branch since 2017 and has worked in the courts since 2002.