Yasuo Matsui

Yasuo Matsui (1877 – 1962) was a prominent 20th century Japanese American architect.

Immigrating from Japan to the United States in 1902, Matsui attended the University of California and afterward worked for Ernest Flagg. He was one of the architects who worked on the Empire State Building.[1] He eventually rose to the position of President at F.H. Dewey & Company, an architectural firm which was involved with many prominent skyscraper projects on the East Coast. Their most prominent project was the 71 story 40 Wall Street building. He also designed the Japanese Pavilion at the 1939 World's Fair.

Along with other prominent Japanese living throughout the United States, Matsui was arrested by the FBI after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He was taken to Ellis Island on December 8, 1941 and held for four months until he was paroled.[2] Like other paroled Japanese nationals living outside the western United States, his freedom to travel was curtailed, he had to report his activities to the federal government every month, and he was barred from owning a camera. He died a naturalized American citizen in 1961.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Larry Tajiri cited in Pacific Citizens: Larry and Guyo Tajiri and Japanese American Journalism in the World War II Era edited by Greg Robinson (Urbana-Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2012), 34.
  2. ↑ Larry Tajiri cited in Pacific Citizens: Larry and Guyo Tajiri and Japanese American Journalism in the World War II Era edited by Greg Robinson (Urbana-Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2012), 34.
  3. ↑ Gray, Christopher (2012-09-06). "A Towering Career; a Collision With War". New York Times. Retrieved 2015-06-07.


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