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Minoru Yasui: You Can See the Mountain from Here MINORU YASUI: YOU CAN SEE THE MOUNTAIN FROM HERE ' .. t··--'. ~-- . by BARBARA ANNITTE BELLUS UPP ~ i A DISSERTATION Presented to the Department of History and the Graduate School of the ·university of Oregon in partial fulfjllment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy , . ,, June 1997 i i "Minoru Yasui: You Can See the Mountain From Here," a dissertation prepared by Barbara Annette Bellus Upp in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Department of History. This dissertation has been approved and accepted by: Dr. Daniel lie�d Xl�ning Committee Date Committee in charge: Dr. Daniel Pope, Chair Dr. Edwin Bingham Dr. Lauren Kessler Dr. Jeff Ostler Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School iii Copyright 1997 Barbara Annette Bellus Upp iv An Abstract of the Dissertation of Barbara Annette Bellus Upp for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History to be taken June 1997 Title: MINORU YASUI: YOU CAN SEE THE MOUNTAIN FROM HERE Approved: This dissertation is a narrative account of the life of Minon:.i Yasui, 1916-1986. Minoru Yasui was a Nisei (second generation Japanese American), born in Hood River, Oregon, and a graduate of· the University of Oregon (B.A., 1937) and University of Oregon Law School (L.L.B., 1939). In March 1942, Yasui brought the first constitutional challenge to the curfew imposed upon Japanese Americans. The curfew was the first step in the restriction and internment of Americans of Japanese ancestry, citizens and noncitizens alike. He believed that as a citizen and lawyer it was his responsibility to oppose, and test, orders which distinguished citizens solely on the basis of their ancestry. After World War II, Yasui lived all of his adult life in Denver, Colorado, from 1945 until ) his death in 1 986. V Minoru Yasui was a leader in the Redress movement which fought for a government apology and some form of token monetary compensation for the unconstitutional wartime internment of Japanese Americans. His own coram nobis case, which reopened in 1983, along with two other wartime internment cases, provided a rehearing of issues related to the wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans, with, additional evidence and perspective. The disserta­ tion examines the relationship of the Redress movement and Yasui's coram nobis case, after chapters which tell the story of his early life, the context of the wartime case, and his life in Denver between World War II and the beginning of the Redress movement in the 1970s. The focus of the author's original research is material from Yasui's files, archived in Denver, Colorado. Minoru Yasui's legal case had not concluded, nor had legislative Redress passed, when he died on November 12, 1986. The dissertation includes an account of the attempt to carry on the case after his death. Minoru Yasui is buried in ldylwild Cemetery in Hood River, Oregon. vi CURRICULUM VITA NAME OF AUTHOR: Barbara Annette Bellus Upp PLACE OF BIRTH: Colby, Kansas DATE OF BIRTH: October 14, 1 948 GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University University of Wisconsin, Madison Occidental College DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor of Philosophy in History, 1997, University of Oregon Doctor of Ministry, 1981, Perkins School of Theology Master of Theology, 1980, Perkins School of Theology Master of Arts in History, 1972, University of Wisconsin, Madison Bachelor of Arts in History, 1970, Occidental College AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Asian American History Ethnic History Women's History _Religion in U.S. Hist9ry vii PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Faculty, Eastern Oregon State College External Degree Program, 1993-95 Faculty, Treasure Valley Community College, Ontario, Oregon 1993-95 Faculty, Gbarnga School of Theology, Gbarnga, Liberia, 1979 Faculty, Doshisha Women's College, Kyoto, Japan, 1973-75 United Methodist Minister, Churches in Jefferson and Lyons, Oregon, 1995-97; Hood River, Oregon, 1986-88; Twin Falls,. Idaho, 1981-83 viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I appreciate the generous assistance of the staff at the Archives and Special Collections of the Auraria Library in Denver, Colorado, especially Rudy Witthus, head of the Archives during the time I was doing my research. I was able to watch the huge mass of material take shape into the Minoru Yasui Collection, To True S. Yasui and Holly Yasui and Peggy Nagae, deep gratitude for sharing their hearts and resources with me over many years. I thank all of those who consented to be interviewed, to talk through· the material with me, and to help me think through my questions and reflections. I am grateful to all those who shared recorded audio and video tapes with me in the course of my research, to the students who helped me realize the importance of Asian American History, and colleagues in·. the Association for Asian American Studies who have stimulated my work. Thanks to. Professor Daniel Pope for his assistance as advisor. To all who have been on the journey with me, especially to David, Daniel, and Hannah, to Patricia and Rita, and to Kim, Martha .and Theresa, who have animated and supported, I give great thanks. ix TABLE. OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION .................................. ; . 1 Notes .. ·.......................................... 10 II. HOOD RIVER, FAMILY BACKGROUND: 1916-1941 . 12 Notes............................................. 36 Ill. THE WAR YEARS: 1941-1945 . 38 Notes............................................ 80 · IV. "IN THE MEANTIME": 1946-1978 ...................... 86 ' ' Notes ..................... , . 11 4 V. REDRESS AND CORAM NOBIS: 1979-1986 . 117 Notes........................................... 205 VI. POSTLOGUE: "YOU CAN SEE THE MOUNTAIN FROM HERE," 1986-1996....................................... 218 Notes ..·. 231 BIBLIOGRAPHY . 233 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Minoru Yasui was a young lawyer form Hood River who decided to challenge the curfew which was instituted in 1 942 against · Americans of Japanese ancestry during World War II. He had an active career in law and community relations, and became a leader in the fight for Redress in the 197Os and 198Os. He was active in both the legislative and judicial aspects of the struggle for reas­ sessment of the relocation and internment of Japanese Americans. This work is not a chronicle of Japanese American internment during World War II, nor an analysis of the wartime test cases against internment, nor a thoroughgoing biography of Minoru Yasui. It is rather an exploration of the connection of the test case that Min Yasui brought to the curfew in 1942 and the later reopening of that case to the Redress movement in which he was involved in the 197Os and 1980s. The work is constructed to give the reader n·ecessary orientation to Yasui's acts and motivation in bringing the test case, and to provide sufficient context of the wartime events and process of his trial to appreciate the situation in which he found . 2 himself as well as pressures he was under. The description of the years between the end of the war and the beginning of Redress is brief in order to help the reader connect Yasui's activities and thought during those years with what came later. It is the reopening of the wartime case in the midst of the Redress movement which is the key focus of this dissertation. The heart of the work as an original contribution to the field is contained in Chapter V, "Redress and Coram Nobis: 1979-1986." Min Yasui brought a unique history and perspective to his Redress work, and neither research nor writing has previously explored the connection between his case, occurring in the 1 940s and the 1980s, and the Redress movement. During the 1980s, three wartime cases reopened by means of an obscure but still potent means of legal appeal called a writ of error coram nobis. As it was possible to prove through new evidence that there had been intentional fraud practiced on the court during prosecution of the cases, they could come "before us again" in light of the new evidence and perspective. Yasui was the only one of the petitioners in the coram nobis cases who was also active in the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), and a vocal advocate for the JACL Redress movement, including the creation of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC). The 3 process of the Commission hearings and reports was vitally inter­ connected with the findings which opened the possibility of the coram nobis cases. The cases opened in 1983 in the midst of the issuing of the Commission reports. Min Yasui's extensive correspondence. fro'm ,this period, providing a unique perspective from a major figure, has been a key research tool in relating the coram nobis cases to the Redress movement. Peter Irons has writter,1 of the background arid process of the wartime and coram nobis cases from the perspective of a researcher and lawyer who played a key role in those cases. His 1983 work, Justice at War: The Story of the Japanese American Internment Cases, tells the story of three wartime cases--Min Yasui, Gordon Hirabayashi, and Fred Korematsu--describing the political and legal battles that surrounded them and how his research "uncovered a legal scandal without precedent in the history of American law."1Its account of the emerging evidence showing a deliberate campaign to present tainted records to the Supreme Court is vital to tracing the origins of the cases. Irons' later book, Justice Delayed: The Record of the Japanese American Cases, is largely a case-by-case record of the judicial decisions in the test cases, occurring in the 1940s and 1980s, with 4 an introduction which describes the trial process of the coram nobis cases.2 Another resource which provides the case records with an histori:Cal introduction is Nobuya Tsuchida's American Justice: Japanese American Evacuation and Redress Cases.3 Tsuchida's work also includes the texts of the Executive Orders and Proclamations / which ordered and directed the curfew, relocation, and internment.4 It has not quite been ten years since the passage of the legi­ slation- which enacted legislative Redress on August 10, 1988.
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