Dan Nakasone: My auntie Sarah   told me this story, story of my grandmother  Kamei.

They could hear her crying herself to   sleep for nights on end, and in the morning she  will be touching Junichiʻs old school uniform.

You know that image is never  going to leave my mind,   you know... "Tinsagu   nu Hana," Okinawan children’s song: In 1930, my great grandfather,   Bunchu Nakasone came from Aza Yogi Okinawa  to visit his only child, my my great grand,   my grandfather, Jiro.

And being that, you  know, he had no children, when he left,   he took the two youngest children with him,  my auntie Yoshino, who was 5, and Junichi,   who was who was 3 years old, you know,  he had a farm.

He needed my uncle and   auntie to help on the farm.

John Toguchi/Son of Yoshino:  From what I heard from sisters and brothers and  sisters, that because Junichi was so young, there,   they had to have someone else accompany him, and  between the siblings that were there at the time,   the best choice was our mom.

She was the one  nearest in age to him.

The other,her brother and   sister were much older, pretty much established,  so it would be difficult to transplant them from   Hawaiʻi to Okinawa to help their grandparents.

Dan Nakasone:  You know, the story I heard was that Junichi was  excited, actually, because he was going to sail   on a big ship for my auntie Yoshino, you know,  I cannot even imagine what was going through her   mind.

You know, leaving her family behind.

Sharon Yamasaki/Daughter of Yoshino:  Oh, my mom was very quiet and sweet.

She just did,  you know, whatever people asked her to do, she   worked very hard.

I remember her saying  that she worked and gathered potatoes,   sweet potatoes, up on the hill when she, before  she went to school.

And then she, you know,   cleaned up the house and everything, and then went  to school.

And I remember her saying that when she   was in elementary school, she brought Junichi to  school to sit by her, because I think he was too   young to, I guess, protect him.

Dan Nakasone:  Junichi, he excelled as a student, and he was  able to pass the entrance exam to a prestigious   school called Kenritsu Daiichi Chugakko was a top  academic school.

You know, you know, Daiichi is   number one.

For Junichi, being that my great  grandfather was a farmer, going to the school   was the was an opportunity of a lifetime.

So,  you know, from what I understood that, you know,   he studied, he just was studying, and Yoshino was  always there caring for him.

I think from the day   they left, she was taking care of Junichi.

Alice Toguchi Matsuo/Daughter of Yoshino:  Yes, my mom had a strong sense of duty and  responsibility to take care of her younger   brother, and she wanted him to do well in school.

So she would save some kerosene in a little metal   container, she said, and she would take that, she  would walk a long distance whenever she could,   to take that kerosene over to her brother so  that he could study at night.

And of course,   she would have to take that same trek back home.

Dan Nakasone:  You know, Junichiʻs dream was to become a  school teacher.

And back then, teachers,   you know, it was like, was like a  sacred profession that that was his   career choice.

Music:  Dan Nakasone: On March 24, 1945 the school sent him home   to get a release form signed.

To be conscripted  into the Japanese Imperial Army, he needed to   have this release signed by his grandparents.

Alice Toguchi Matsuo/Daughter of Yoshino:  Junichi had come to them to say that he needed  their approval or signature to join the Japanese   Army.

And so my mom said that he appeared like he  didn't really want to go, but she felt it was the   responsible thing to do, that she wanted him to,  you know, go.

So he they did, sign the papers, and   he went off to join the Army.

Dan Nakasone:  That day, the U.S. planes, was dropping bombs.

So, so when Junichi got there to Aza Yogi,   he took my great grandparents, his  sister, Yoshino, to a cave up a ridge,   not too far from their home to, you know,  relative safety, because they know they were   dropping bombs that day.

So the following  day after graduation, he was, Junichi was   conscripted into what was called the Iron Blood  Corps for the Emperor.

He was 18 years old.

The battle started on April 1, 1945 and it  ended on June 22, 1945 and Junichi never   came home.

Music:  Dan Nakasone: My great grandparents, Bunchu and Kamado Nakasone,   along with Yoshino and some other people from  the village, were hiding in the cave for over   three months.

They heard all the propaganda from  the Japanese Army, Japanese soldiers saying that,   you know, the men are going to be butchered  and the women are going to be raped.

Karen Irie/Daughter of Yoshino: But she did mention being trained to use a   bamboo like a sword if, in case she gets captured.

But she's not that type, so she wouldn't fight   somebody else or to kill.

Yeah.

John Toguchi/Son of Yoshino:  She really never mentioned the life in there, but  seeing that the caves were primarily there for   to store the ashes of the ancestors, it  was not somewhere where there was a lot of   comfort.

It was rather small, dark.

Elaine Chun/Daughter of Yoshino:  It must have been a very scary time  for them to leave the cave just to get   things that they needed to survive in there for  several months.

It must have been very difficult.

Dan Nakasone: That time, was they was,   the army called it the mop up phase of the  battle.

So they knew that Japanese soldiers   and civilians were hiding in caves.

So, if, after  several attempts of trying to call the people out,   and if they did not come out, they'd either would  flame throwe the cave, or they would explosive,   with explosives, they would seal the cave.

Alice Toguchi Matsuo/Daughter of Yoshino:  She was hiding in the cave.

She called  it the haka, which was the tomb, I guess,   and she hid in the back because, of course, she  was told that those bad things would happen.

And   she sent her, I mean, the grandparents went  out, and while the grandparents were out,   grandma got a little concerned and said, Hey, my  granddaughter is still in there.

So they persuaded   her to come out.

And the people who actually were  there to escort them out were Japanese Americans.

Dan Nakasone: And I heard the story from Auntie Yoshino   herself.

She said that, you know, the American  soldiers actually treated them well.

They provided   them with food and water and shelter, far from  what the Japanese you know, soldiers told them.

Dan Nakasone: So my grandmother in Wahiawā wanted   to bring Yoshino home.

My uncle Edwin, who is my  grandmother's sister's son, was serving in the   MIS.

He was stationed in Yokohama, Tokyo, and she  put in a request for him to go and find Yoshino.

Col. Edwin Masanobu Nakasone/U.S.

Army, retired: Said to me, we have a child whose name is Yoshino,   and she is now located with her grandparents  in Okinawa, Japan.

I said I would really like   to have her come back to Hawaiʻi, because she's  she's of American citizenship, and Japan is not a   place for her to grow up forever.

1947 I got down  there, February of ʻ47.

The conditions were tough   because, as I said, bombing and everything else,  but they still had, you know, it was a village,   Aza Yogi, it was a little village there.

I  went down and got a Jeep, and with the Jeep,   I got to where her address was, and got, got  her, and then brought her to, I think it was the   Civil Affairs language area, and that was in Naha.

And there we registered her as a American citizen,   born in Hawaiʻi, and that I would attest the  fact that she was American, and this is all fine,   and so no longer than about six months later,  she was on the ship and going back to Hawaiʻi.

John Toguchi/Son of Yoshino: I think it was very fortunate that   he was where he was, in his position, in the  MIS and in the Army.

Maybe a fortunate thing   is that mom had a birthmark on her nose that was a  very telltale sign that confirmation that she was   Yoshino Nakasone.

Dan Nakasone:  According to Uncle Edwin, she was looking  forward...she wanted to come back home   to family, her parents.

When she  left, she only had two siblings,   so two oldest, which was my my dad Seiei, and  my auntie Shi-chan.

She wanted to get home.

Elaine Chun/Daughter of Yoshino: The ship ride was very hard.

I'm   not sure how long it was, but it was pretty  long from what I imagined.

And then a lot of   them were seasick on the boat, and it was very  difficult to take that long ride back and but   apparently she did have a friend that she met  on the boat, which eventually that person also   ended up on the Big Island.

Sharon Yamasaki/Daughter of Yoshino:  Baban made arrangements for her to  come back to Hawaiʻi and brought the   Nakasone clan to the Honolulu Harbor.

I  think it was February of 1948, and mom said   she was so happy to see all her family and  relatives at Honolulu Harbor greeting her.

Music: Dan Nakasone:  You know, life wasn't easy for Yoshino.

You know she didn't speak English.

Alice Toguchi Matsuo/Daughter of Yoshino: English wasn't her primary language.

It was   her second language.

So she did find  several jobs, one of which was at the   Crystal Cleaners in the Kemoʻo Farms area.

And  then after that, she went to work for a family   in St Louis Heights area, who she was hoping that  she would learn English from.

So she was really,   really invested in the idea that she should  learn English, and so her part of her journey   at that time was to be in places where  she would have to speak English and learn   it from others.

Dan Nakasone:  Things turned for the better when she met  Robert Toguchi, who became her husband.

John Toguchi/Son of Yoshino: There was a temple called Jikoen Hongwanji,   predecessor to the Hawaii Okinawa Center,  where the Okinawans were able to meet and   find support.

As it happens, my father's  sister Haruko was married to Reverend   Jikai Yamasato because of the connection of Jikoen  with the Okinawan community, they were somehow   got the connection from this other Okinawan  organization in Wahiawā, to meet and eventually   they got married.

My father.

The funny thing is,  we always call him Seiyu, but on this island,   it's Robert.

So Robert Seiyu Toguchi.

Dan Nakasone:  They got married.

They moved to the Big Island,  Pepeʻekeo, where he's where he's from.

They   were able to raise five children.

And, you know,  all the kids got college degrees.

So, you know,   she was able to live a life that she deserved.

Elaine Chun/Daughter of Yoshino:  What I remember about mom always hard  working.

She was a stay at home mom.

So   my dad was the breadwinner, so being that we had  five children, she was able to keep us clothed.

We   had nice clothes.

She would actually sold some  of the clothes for us because she couldn't.

We   couldn't afford to buy clothes, and then all of  the meals were homemade.

You know, John always   brings up this story about how she would be able  to stretch this can of Spam to feed all of us,   and even not even use the whole can of Spam, but,  you know, just adding cabbage and other vegetables   that she actually grew in the garden to help  feed us and sustain us.

That's what I remember,   very hard working and yeah, very happy.

Karen Irie: Daughter of Yoshino:  She liked Ikebana...poetry,  Japanese poetry.

She liked music.

John Toguchi/Son of Yoshino: She was also a very dedicated   Buddhist and a member of the Honpa Hongwanji  and member of the fujinkai, now known as   the Buddhist Women's Association.

Karen Irie: Daughter of Yoshino:  These are bean bags.

It's a little different  from what my mom used to like.

She used to   sew her own and put the actual beans.

She  could do tricks with them.

It's amazing,   like with two hands and juggle.

John Toguchi/Son of Yoshino:  And I think growing up one time, I made her really  mad.

I think in Okinawa, they do this pinch thing   that is really sore when they really apply it.

Karen Irie: Daughter of Yoshino:  She loved birds, would sit in the kitchen  drinking tea, look outside and watch the birds,   and it's a daily routine she had.

But a quiet  time.

She always had her own quiet time.

Music: Elaine Chun/Daughter of Yoshino:  When my mom was living through the Battle of  Okinawa, there was extensive bombing going   on around around her in the area.

So when she  moved to the Big Island to where we were living,   it was basically a plantation town that had cane  field all around it.

So every once in a while,   these crop duster planes would fly over.

Sharon Yamasaki/Daughter of Yoshino:  She said, You know, when she heard  airplanes flying by, it scared her,   because she thought she would be bombed.

Karen Irie: Daughter of Yoshino:  She remembered the bombers, the airplanes, and  then that she mentioned, she also mentioned   not wanting to watch any war movies on TV.

Alice Toguchi Matsuo/Daughter of Yoshino:  And despite all that she went through, she didn't  have negative things to say.

And throughout,   I think, the time that she raised us, there  was very, very rarely, if any time, that she   spoke bad about any one situation, she always had  a very positive attitude, which was just amazing.

Sharon Yamasaki/Daughter of Yoshino: The lessons that we can learn from Mom   is that really don't let the bad things you  know get to you, just pursue and be happy.

Alice Toguchi Matsuo/Daughter of Yoshino: Despite all the hardship and difficulties   you may experience in life, there's less...you  know, lessons to learn and learn from that.

Try not to let it make you a bad person or  angry person, and rise above that and be   positive.

And like Sharon said, move  forward, because there's a lot to do in life.

Karen Irie: Daughter of Yoshino: What I've learned from my mother is   that we all should build resilience  and the will to live.

Yeah...  Elaine Chun/Daughter of Yoshino: That shows how how strong and brave she was,   and I hope that is what was instilled in us also,  and then that we can instill in our children.

Music: Karen Irie: Daughter of Yoshino:  She did mention her search for  her brother.

She would go from   village to village ask if they saw him.

Alice Toguchi Matsuo/Daughter of Yoshino:  Yeah, she really wouldn't, you know, dwell  on it a lot, but she would periodically say   that she wonders what happened to him, and she  did have some regret about sending him off.

John Toguchi/Son of Yoshino: Even my mom in her advanced   stages of dementia, sometimes I visited her at  Elaine's house, she would ask, Oh, who am I?

She would say that I'm her brother.

In that  stage, she was still thinking about her brother.

Dan Nakasone: My grandmother would make bento,   and my uncle George was around five years old.

I think at the time he would accompany her.

They   would walk to a Japanese POW camp, which was  outside the Schofield Barracks, not far from   our house.

So she would make bento, and through  the barbed wire fence, she would share food with   the Japanese POW, and she would ask about Junichi.

And they did that a few times, I think you know,   but each time they came up empty.

Music:  Dan Nakasone: You know, his photo sat next   to the butsudan in my grandparents house, Jiro and  Kamei Nakasone in Wahiawā.

I always wondered who   was this guy.

And, you know, he looked like he was  in a Japanese school uniform, so, you know, but my   family never spoke about him, you know, me being  a young kid, I never thought anything after that.

So, in April of 2015, on the 70th anniversary  of the Battle of Okinawa, I went to Okinawa as   a producer for a national PBS series called  Family Ingredients.

And about two weeks out,   I posted a photo of Junichi on social media,  you know, hoping to that I would get a lead.

And just so happened, Chizu Inoue, who was  our consultant in Okinawa for that episode,   replied immediately.

She recognized the  emblem on Junichiʻs cap.

So she asked me,   what school did he go to?

And I didn't  know, but I said that he was in Shuri,   and she knew already, because two of her daughters  went to Shuri High.

And the school has a museum,   and they had an archive with all the files of all  the students that were lost during the battle.

So   Chizu contacted her friend who works at the  museum, and just so happened, Junichiʻs file   was there.

Chizu arranged for me to meet with  five of Junichiʻs schoolmates.

You know, when   I got in front of the five students, I was like,  I was excited to find out, to find Junichi story.

Junichi’s former schoolmates and  Dan Nakasone’s consultant speaking   in Japanese: Dan Nakasone:  So I learned that Junichi was killed  by American machine gun fire in a place   called Komesu the day before the battle ended.

Hearing all this, you know, again, made me think   of my Baban crying herself to sleep.

I also felt  that, you know, his siblings needed to be there,   not me, especially Yoshino.

So as I  left that day, getting into the car,   one of the schoolmates came up to me and he  said, Now it's your responsibility to share   Junichiʻs story.

Music:  Dan Nakasone: So getting home,   I was emotionally and physically exhausted,  you know, but I invited my the surviving   Junichiʻs siblings, along with some of my  cousins and I produced a folder with all   the information that I gathered on that trip.

The surviving siblings were my Uncle Satoru,   my Auntie Sarah, my Auntie Sueno, and you know  they were there with their their their spouses.

And Yoshinoʻs two daughters were there.

My Auntie  Sarah's daughter were there.

Yoshino was there,   but she had early stages of dementia, so she  could so she didn't learn what happened to her,   her brother.

After we were done, my uncle, Satoru  came up to me, and he said, Baban now has closure.

Music: Event Host:  Hello, welcome.

Karen Irie:   Daughter of Yoshino: I’m Karen, the oldest.

General conversation as people greet each other: Dan Nakasone:  Okay.

So you know, we're here interviewing  my Toguchi cousins for this documentary,   for this video, and when we're  interviewing my cousin Alice, she said:  Alice Toguchi Matsuo/Daughter of Yoshino: The people who actually were there to   escort them out were Japanese Americans.

So  they were American, but of Japanese ancestry.

And my mom really thinks that one of the men, Mr.  Kaneshiro, who persuaded her and told her no, she   wouldn't be harmed, that they would take good care  of her.

She, my mom always thought that he was   someone who lived in Maukaloa (street), Pepeʻekeo,  where she ended up going after she got married.

Dan Nakasone: To make that connection   between a Nisei soldier and someone he actually  called out of the cave.

It's extremely rare.

And   to find out his name was Kaneshiro and that  he was from Hawai’i, I was just blown away,   stunned.

And in my mind, I'm thinking already  that I needed to track this person down.

So   I contacted some friends, the former editor of  the Hawaiʻi Herald, she's done articles on MIS   soldiers.

It came back to me, an email came back  to me saying that there was only four Kaneshiros   from Hawai’i, and Alice said that he was from the  Big Island, and there was only one Kaneshiro from   the Big Island, and that was Morimasa Kaneshiro.

Charles Kaneshiro/Son of Morimasa Kaneshiro:  He had just graduated when he volunteered  from high school, so he was 18,   turning 19 when he entered into the military.

Myrtle Fujie Kaneshiro/Wife of Morimasa Kaneshiro:  So I think just seeing the devastation  to Okinawa and his parents were   Isses.

So you know, they were very much affected  by it.

And I know he knew that, he knew that.

Charles Kaneshiro/Son of Morimasa Kaneshiro: He said over and over again, you know,   the destruction and the suffering of the civilians  was really impacted him as a person.

It made he,   he was going to become an engineer, is what  he told me, when he was in high school,   and seeing the suffering convinced him that his  life purpose was to try to alleviate suffering of   people.

And one of his important, he felt it was  an important task was to go into the caves and try   to get the civilians who were afraid to come out.

And so, he would use every means of persuasion,   you know, telling them, I am Okinawan, you  know, I mean, you know, You can trust me.

Dan Nakasone: We were able to find out the   name of his son, Charles Kaneshiro.

So we reached  out to him and, and I explained the story.

And I,   I asked him that if we could, you know, talk  story.

And moreover, I asked if, if he his family,   would be willing to meet with the Toguchis.

General conversation as Toguchi and Kaneshiro   family members meet: Music:  Myrtle Fujie Kaneshiro/Wife of Morimasa Kaneshiro:  Well until Mr. Nakasone told me  I didn't know about it.

He never,   he never mentioned resc...

I'm sure  he rescued other people, you know,   Okinawan citizens, to come out of  a cave.

But he never mentioned Mrs.   Miss Nakasone.

He never, he never did.

Charles Kaneshiro/Son of Morimasa Kaneshiro:  Well, we can put a face to and a name and  a family that were really helped by dad's   just doing what he thought was what he was  asked to do and what he was trying to do in   Okinawa, which was save people.

Karen Irie/Daughter of Yoshino:  That was quite amazing.

And I'm just hoping  that he was the guy, laughs, because there   are other Kaneshiros, but it seems so.

Sharon Yamasaki/Daughter of Yoshino:  And I'm glad Dan found the Kaneshiros  the correct Kaneshiros.

You know,   we could meet each other and share stories, Alice Toguchi Matsuo/Daughter of Yoshino:  And you could tell that that humanitarian type of  character transcends among all of the children,   including and his wife too.

So just being  able to be among people like that was very,   very heartwarming.

Dan Nakasone:  You know, what was gratifying was the Yonsei,  the fourth generation, wanted to come.

So for me,   you know, that alone was, you know, worth the  effort to, you know, put that gathering together.

Charles Kaneshiro/Son of Morimasa Kaneshiro: Meeting the family, I can only, I mean just   meeting the, the Yonsei, especially, and, you  know, seeing how they, you know, their spirit of   service, of respect.

You know, they were helping  clean up.

They brought all these, you know, food,   and were so respectful.

I mean, told me a lot  about Yoshino, the grandmother, because I can   only just like our father had passed on their his  values to us.

I'm sure she passed on those values.

Myrtle Fujie Kaneshiro/Wife of Morimasa Kaneshiro: I was really, sort of proud that he was part of   it, that he got someone from Hawaii out, and  there was a connection in that she was allowed   to eventually come home, get married, and now  her generation is down to the fourth generation   already, and it will continue, you know?

And  I thought, Oh, how wonderful.

You know that   this happened for her, her side, you know.

Charles Kaneshiro/Son of Morimasa Kaneshiro:  Your helping that person helps their family, could  help a generation.

And to me, that's the moral   of this experience, is you.

I'm sure my dad  was just trying to do the best he could in that   situation.

Okay, I'm gonna try to rescue these  people, get him out of the cave, not knowing the   impact that he would have on future generation  and future family.

To me, that's the message.

Elaine Chun/Daughter of Yoshino: That's why we're here today, because of him.

Music: Dan Nakasone:  Not giving up hope, right?

I think  that's a big piece of the story,   that they never gave up hope.

My grandmother never  gave up hope, you know.

So that's a, you know,   important piece that again, for my family  members to know that this is what you know,   your family's members went through, but they  persevered, you know.

So that just adds again,   like I said, you know.

Adds  to enrich their identity as a   Nakasone.

Music   and singing in Okinawan: (Transition to Stories of Uchinanchu)  Jon Itomura/Executive Director,  Hawaii United Okinawa Association:  So the question often comes up, What is,  what does it mean to be Okinawan?

What is,   what does it mean to be Uchinanchu?

Frances Nakachi Kuba/Okinawa Dance   Master/President, Hawaii  United Okinawa Association:  Uchinanchu is someone who has roots  in Okinawa.

You don't have to be   Uchinanchu in blood.

It can be Uchinanchu  at heart.

The Okinawan culture emphasizes on   Shimabukuru and Yuimaru.

Yuimaru is helping  one another.

If somebody who needs help,   then you would provide, you would help them.

You know, it's there are.

It's not as much   as of a hierarchy.

It's everybody's  the same, and we all help each other.

Jon Itomura/Executive Director,  Hawaii United Okinawa Association:  So Taro Higa was a US soldier of Okinawan descent,  reported back to relatives here that Okinawa was   completely destroyed.

Because of the Battle of  Okinawa and the ties here to the uchinanchu in   Hawaiʻi, to the family and friends back home  and hearing from Taro Higa that they need help.

The Uchinanchus here banded together started  a collection of not only food, but clothing,   medicine, books, toys, anything you can think  of.

In my own family, my grandfather was a   part of the effort that started the collection of  monies to buy pigs.

And they were they were able   to collect enough money to purchase 550 pigs,  which they got from Nebraska, put them on the   train and from Oregon, seven of them, including  my grandfather, Shinyei Shimabukuro , jumped   onto the boat and brought those pigs to Okinawa.

That started the relief effort that followed up   with the goats and the clothing and the medicine  and the toys and books and everything else.

They   probably never saw their family and friends  as the enemy.

They heard the news that their   family and friends need help, that there was  nothing left in Okinawa.

How can we help?

I   believe would have been the call.

That would be my  charge if I heard the same news, How can I help?

And so it was really that reaction to help  family and friends, and that's one of the   biggest reasons why, even for these seven men  that got on the boat.

And their family didn't   know about it.

My own mother didn't know about  it, because they were simply going to help.

It   wasn't this type of effort that, let's get the  media involved and whatnot.

They used whatever   media they could to raise moneys, but the fact  that they're crossing the ocean and, you know,   sailing through active mines in the in the waters  that was never talked about.

And so it really was,   what can we do to help our family and friends?

Kristen Mika-Toguchi   Ishii/Granddaughter of Yoshino Toguchi: Grandma at the time she, of course, she lived   in Hilo, but once, once I was born, my parents did  mention that she did come, actually, for a month   to help take care of me.

My dad always mentioned  that grandma had this special magic touch where   she was able to put me to sleep.

They were so  grateful for her and helping to take care of me.

I can't even imagine what she has been through.

Can't imagine being in that cave for who knows   how many days with other people, and you know,  knowing, not knowing her brother.

And for us,   we as a Yonsei generation, I really did  not know anything much about her brother.

I know, you know, before she passed, she would  mention that she had a brother, and I'm like,   Oh, who was your brother, you know?

And so I  feel, I just, it's definitely a whole different   perspective.

And I, you know, I do wish I  had more conversations with her about this.

This film has brought me so much closer to  grandma, and has brought me so much insight   into what she has gone through in her lifetime.

To, sorry.

I feel grandma has taught us to be,   to know, again, I always mention this word  about resilience and to be strong and to,   I feel like grandma found joy in  her life.

Despite with all this   hardship she's been through, she found  joy in family with her five children,   her seven grandchildren, her now we  have two great grandchildren spending   time with each other, finding hobbies.

I discovered more, too, after talking   with my father, that she loved to do ikebana.

She  loved daytime soap operas.

I think that's how she   was able to have such a great life, and  that's what we should learn from that today.

Jon Itomura/Executive Director,  Hawaii United Okinawa Association:  The very primary message that I got from  the film Persevere was the strong family   bond and the strong attention to ancestors  and who came before us.

That's very strong   throughout the Okinawan culture.

They are not an  idol worship community, it's ancestor worship.

Just the element of family and ties  to family that was not only touching,   but it's actually very educational in saying that,   look, it's because of what we know from the  past.

How do we carry it forward?

How do we   bring the message to the next generation?

Frances Nakachi Kuba/Okinawa Dance   Master/President, Hawaii  United Okinawa Association:  Never forget.

Never forget what the pioneers,  the ancestors have done, have gone through and   to learn and to appreciate what they did and to  honor them and but never forget about them so   that we continue to share their spirit, their  endurance, their heart for the next generation   so that there will be a better world.

Kristen Mika-Toguchi Ishii/Granddaughter   of Yoshino Toguchi: Now I feel like as a   as a fourth generation, is to preserve the  family history and continue forward with   talking about it with you know our  new generations to come and even   to learn from those experiences.

Jon Itomura/Executive Director,   Hawaii United Okinawa Association: I think one challenge that lies with   Uchinanchu, as it lies with many other cultures,  especially in a melting pot that is Hawaiʻi,   is how do we go forward into the future  and continue to emphasize our identity,   our culture, our heritage, and the most  important part of that is education,   but not through not only through formal education,  academics, it's exactly what a film like Persevere   talked about.

It's through family.

It's through  talking and having stories shared between family   members and passed down, and hoping that the next  generation will always keep looking for answers.

That's the way that will keep our identity  and our heritage into the future.

And it's   so important, and I just hope that  all families will continue to do that.