An American Hero: Shiro Kashino (film)

Short documentary film that uses animation and archival footage to tell the story of Shiro Kashino, a Nisei from Seattle who becomes a war hero as a member of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team , but who loses his rank for his role in a fight in France.

An American Hero: Shiro Kashino is based on the graphic novel of the same name by Lawrence Matsuda and Matt Sasaki. The story begins when Beverly, a young girl, returns from school, telling her father that she hates Pearl Harbor day because she is the only Japanese American in the class. Her father, Shiro Kashino, responds by telling her about his wartime experience. His first person voice (Yuji Okumoto) narrates his story: his family's wartime incarceration at Minidoka , his decision to volunteer for the 442nd, his memories of combat and the many men who died, the end of the war and closing of the concentration camps, and his postwar life and career. He ends by telling his daughter that she should never be ashamed on Pearl Harbor day. An omniscient narrator continues the story with efforts by his friends and family to get his rank restored, which ends successfully, but only after his death in 1997. The longer version of the video continues with a five minute biography of Kashino's life through photographs and narration that fills in additional detail, particularly on his prewar life, the wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans, and his postwar life.

Kashino's unusual story was also the subject of an earlier conventional documentary by Vince Matsudaira, Kash: The Legend and Legacy of Shiro Kashino (2011).

An American Hero: Shiro Kashino was a co-production of the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience, the NVC Foundation, and the Seattle Channel. It was produced and directed by Shannon Gee and animated by Randy Eng.

Might also like Kash: The Legend and Legacy of Shiro Kashino (2011); A Flicker in Eternity (2012); Most Honorable Son (2007)