26 Facts About Minoru Yasui

Minoru Yasui was one of the few Japanese Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbor who fought laws that directly targeted Japanese Americans or Japanese immigrants.

Minoru Yasui's case was the first case to test the constitutionality of the curfews targeted at minority groups.

In Denver, Minoru Yasui married and became a local leader in civic affairs, including leadership positions in the Japanese American Citizens League.

On November 16,2015, President Barack Obama announced that Minoru Yasui would receive a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Minoru Yasui went on to college after high school at the University of Oregon in Eugene.

At the school Minoru Yasui earned a bachelor's degree from the school in 1937 and a law degree from the University of Oregon Law School in 1939.

Minoru Yasui was a member of the United States Army's Reserve Officer Training Corps program at the university, earning a commission after graduation in 1937.

Minoru Yasui was commissioned on December 8,1937, as a second lieutenant in the Army's Infantry Reserve.

Minoru Yasui found it hard to find work in Portland, but through the connections of his father, he started working for the Japanese government at its consulate in Chicago, Illinois.

Minoru Yasui was employed as one of several Consular attaches at that office, mainly doing clerical work.

Minoru Yasui returned to Hood River from Chicago after his father, Masuo Minoru Yasui, requested that he come home in order to report for military duty.

Masuo Minoru Yasui was arrested on December 13,1941, by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as an enemy alien, and had his assets frozen.

Min Minoru Yasui moved to Portland and opened a private law practice in order to help the Japanese Americans put their affairs in order.

On March 28,1942, Minoru Yasui deliberately broke the military implemented curfew in Portland, by walking around the downtown area and then presenting himself at a police station after 11:00 pm in order to test the curfew's constitutionality.

Minoru Yasui first asked an officer on the street to arrest him but was told to "Run along home, sonny boy," and so he walked into the police station.

Minoru Yasui had consulted a friend in the FBI prior to arrest, and consulted with other legal minds to try to test the legality of the orders.

Minoru Yasui was sentenced to one year in prison and given a $5000 fine.

Minoru Yasui waited nine months for his chance in court for appeal.

Minoru Yasui was sent back to Fee, who removed the fine and decided that the time already served was enough of a punishment.

Minoru Yasui was released and moved into the Japanese internment camps.

In 1944, Minoru Yasui was allowed to leave the internment camp in the summer and was employed in Chicago before moving to Denver, Colorado, in September 1944.

In 1976, Minoru Yasui began working on the JACL's committee concerning redress for the internment during World War II.

Minoru Yasui continued on that committee until 1984, serving as its chairman in 1981.

Minoru Yasui filed in federal district court in Oregon a coram nobis to attempt to overturn his conviction in 1984.

Minoru Yasui's conviction was overturned by the Oregon federal court in 1986.

Minoru Yasui died on November 12,1986, and is buried in his hometown of Hood River.