"How we in Hawaii are going to live together after the war will depend on how we live together during the war". – Shigeo Yoshida, Council for Interracial Unity

With war fears rising, a council for interracial unity organized in Honolulu in 1939 in support of Hawaii’s large Japanese-ancestry community. On December 7, 1941, they sprang into action. Where 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry were relocated from the West Coast and interned, the behind–the–scenes battle for justice and equality — reaching as far as the White House — set Hawaii on a different course. The First Battle portrays people working together under extreme stress, against tremendous odds. It will change how viewers see Hawaii.

The First Battle premiered at the venerable Hawaii Theater on September 5, 2006 to an overflow crowd of 1,400. It is currently touring the Neighbor Islands and the West Coast, and is scheduled for its television premier broadcast on PBS Hawaii on December 7, 2006. The film is being adopted for educational purposes in Hawaii’s public schools in conjunction with the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii.