Yoshinori Harlan Toso Himel

Yoshinori Harlan Toso HIMEL died December 26, 2025 in Sacramento, CA after an extended illness. “Toso,” as he was known by friends, was active in Sacramento's legal community, built institutions to serve Asian American attorneys, and fought to preserve a Japanese American incarceration site in Northern California.

Toso was born in Waynesboro, PA on September 2, 1945 to William Himel, from Des Plaines, IL, and Seattle-born Sakiko Shiga, who named him Harlan Himel. Their interracial marriage was unusual for the time and illegal in some states. Sakiko’s father, Juro Shiga — who was interned under the Alien Enemies Act at the start of WWII — gave approval for their wedding after Bill helped Shiga family members to avoid being removed and incarcerated under E.O. 9066.

After completing a math degree at Harvard College in 1967 and doing graduate work at University of Michigan, he legally changed his name to “Yoshinori Harlan Toso Himel” and met Barbara Takei, his partner for the past 55 years. He then enrolled in law school at the University of California Davis School of Law, where he found purpose and community. His legal career began at the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he litigated to end racial segregation in schools. In 1980, he returned to the Sacramento region, serving in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the next 35 years.

Toso received numerous awards and recognition for his decades of work to organize and strengthen the growing community of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) attorneys. He co-founded the Asian Bar Association of Sacramento (ABAS) and the ABAS Law Foundation, and fundraised for scholarships for law students and law-oriented community programs focused on social justice issues. He helped found and lead the Asian Bar of California and launch the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.

In retirement, Toso taught law students at UC Davis and served in multiple community organizations, including CAPITAL and Voluntary Legal Services (renamed Capital Pro Bono). To preserve the site of the Tule Lake concentration camp where 27,000 Japanese Americans were imprisoned during WWII and where 332 died, he organized a pro bono legal team that litigated in state and federal courts over six years to stop an airfield expansion project from desecrating this historic civil rights site.

He authored the law review article, “Americans’ Misuse of Internment” (2016), that provided authoritative guidance to government agencies, scholars and the media on non-euphemistic and accurate terminology describing the unjust incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII.

He is survived by spouse, Barbara Takei, a son, Carl Takei (Helen Ho) and two grandchildren, Frank and Naomi. In lieu of gifts or koden, please consider donating to the “Yoshinori H.T. Himel Social Justice Award” established by the non-profit fit ABAS Law Foundation to honor his work.