Ichiro Kataoka, Patriarch of the Kataoka family and noted community leader, was arrested in San Francisco just hours after the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941. He was First to Go, but he would not be the last: Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 into law in February of 1942, beginning the incarceration of around 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent. This short documentary focuses on the surviving members of the Kataoka family and their progeny, providing one family’s outlook into a dark time in modern American history.
There is some excellent analysis of the time period and the daily lives of Japanese Americans living in the US before World War II. Though we have come a long way in some senses, America still clings to punitive and restrictive measures to punish and contain perceived enemies as we can still see with the treatment of asylum seekers at the country’s Southern border, making this documentary an indispensable resource for many fields of study.
This short film would make an excellent choice for History teachers in 6th grade and up. Viewable in the span of half a class period, First to Go offers outstanding insight into a subject that too often warrants only a few sentences in American history texts. Those looking to inspect life on the home front during WWII will find fantastic educational value in this documentary. First to Go is also available on Kanopy, meaning many academic libraries may already have access to this fantastic short documentary. Those studying America’s history of unjust incarceration should consider the ties to modern justice reform and prison abolitionism in First To Go.
This expertly crafted documentary’s only weakness is its lack of scope: only the Kataoka family is interviewed. While their opinions and history are an excellent case study, there are many who speak differently about their time in the internment camps, and perhaps the Kataoka’s community and economic standing may have altered their experience inside the camps. Those looking to teach a whole class or section about Japanese internment will want to include other materials alongside First to Go, but those looking for introductory or short supplementary materials will want to use this film in their classrooms. Highly Recommended.
What can this educational documentary be used as a resource for?
First to Go is an outstanding educational resource for anyone learning about Japanese-American history or studying Japanese Internment during World War II.