The First Battle: The Battle for Equality in War-Time Hawaii (film)

A 2006 film by Tom Coffman about the multi-racial group of civic and military leaders in World War II Hawai'i that monitored race relations and supported Hawai'i's large Japanese American community. After Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941 , the Committee for Interracial Unity and the Morale Section led by Chinese American YMCA Secretary Hung Wai Ching and Japanese American school principal Shigeo Yoshida , worked to protect the civil liberties of the people of Japanese ancestry living in Hawai'i, which ultimately led to the decision against a mass removal of Japanese Americans from the islands. In addition to interviews with some of the key figures and archival footage and stills, The First Battle also recreates several key scenes with actors playing key historical figures such as Ching, Yoshida, and Hawai'i FBI head Robert Shivers . Major funders included Central Pacific Bank, the Gerbode Foundation, the Hawaii Pacific Rim Society, and the Island Insurance Company.

The First Battle premiered at the Hawaii Theatre in Honolulu on September 5, 2006, in an event organized by the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i (JCCH). JCCH also organized premieres of the film on the neighbor islands. The film debuted on local television with an airing on Hawaii Public Television on December 7, 2006. An extensive website for the film includes additional photographs and documents, extended interviews, and educational materials among other things. ^[1]

Might also like Ganbare Don't Give Up! (1994); The Untold Story: Internment of Japanese Americans in Hawai'i (2012); From Bullets to Ballots (1997)