Honoring the Life of Fred Korematsu in NJ
Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution
Friday, January 30, 2026 from 1:00 p.m. until 2:00 p.m.
Fort Lee Municipal Building – 309 Main Street, Fort Lee, NJ 07024
Admission: Free
The Borough of Fort Lee and area community activist Tak Furumoto celebrate Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution with an event that honors the legacy of a U.S. civil rights hero who had the courage to stand up for what is right during World War II.
About Fred Korematsu
In 1942, 23-year-old California native Fred Korematsu refused to enter the concentration camps established for the mass incarceration of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese nationals living on the West Coast, citing the directive as unconstitutional. After his arrest for defying government orders, he took his case all the way to the Supreme Court – and lost. In 1944, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Korematsu, claiming that the incarceration was justified by “military necessity.” However, nearly forty years later, researchers uncovered evidence revealing there were no acts of treason by Japanese Americans to justify their internment. This discovery of government misconduct led to the reopening of Korematsu’s case. On November 10, 1983, a federal court in San Francisco overturned Korematsu’s conviction, marking a significant moment in the fight for civil rights.
Korematsu dedicated his life to activism, becoming a symbol of resilience and justice. In 1998, President Bill Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States, recognizing his tireless efforts to defend the civil liberties of all Americans.
Establishing Fred T. Korematsu Day
In 2010, then California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the legislative bill recognizing January 30, Korematsu’s birthday, as the Fred T. Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution, making it the first statewide day in U.S. history named after an Asian American. Following California’s lead, seven other states officially recognize the observance in perpetuity: Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia. Other states, including Georgia, Illinois, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Utah recognize Fred T. Korematsu Day by proclamation.
About Tak Furumoto
Born in 1944 at the Tule Lake War Relocation Center, one of the ten Japanese American incarceration camps, Takeshi “Tak” Furumoto was instrumental in New Jersey’s adoption of Fred T. Korematsu Day in 2023. Raised in his parents' native Hiroshima after the atomic bombing, Furumoto returned to the U.S. to attend college and eventually served our country in the Vietnam War. Furumoto and his wife, Carol, have run Furumoto Realty for more than 50 years and have dedicated their lives to the betterment of the Japanese American community in both New Jersey and New York. In 2025, Furumoto was the subject of the NHK documentary Raised in Hiroshima, Fought in Vietnam.
Fred T. Korematsu Day in New York City
New York State, under the guidance of State Senator Shelley Mayer, passed a bill recognizing Fred T. Korematsu Day in 2024, but New York City first observed this day in 2018 after City Council unanimously passing Resolution 792, proposed by then Councilmember Daniel Dromm, on December 19, 2017. The day serves not only to honor Korematsu’s brave act to fight injustice, but also to educate the public in the hopes that the history of mass incarceration, prompted by wartime hysteria, will never be repeated.
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