On December 29, 2024 the Hawai’i production of “Shikata Ga Nai (It Cannot Be Helped)” premiered at the Moanalua High School Performing Arts Center.

Movie production was started just before the beginning of the COVID pandemic in 2019 and thus took five years to produce. It was supposed to premier in 2022, but due to all the COVID restrictions caused delay until now.

Storyline: It is 1999, and Tatsuo “Tats” Kaneshiro is a veteran of WWII living out his autumn days in the quiet seclusion of his suburban home in Hawaii. A member of the famed 442 RCT, the all Nisei (second generation Japanese American) infantry regiment that became the most decorated war unit in American history, Tats spends his time tending to his garden, watching television, and occasionally entertaining company like an old army buddy he plays chess with. His single parent daughter, Lynn, who has moved back home after her divorce, and attention deficit grandson, Ryan, live with him. But the peace that seemingly hovers over his daily existence masks his internal struggle. For though the war has been over for 50 years, Tats relives it every day due to a haunting secret about his time in battle that he has kept to himself. Inspired by the true life tendencies of many 442 veterans who have never told their families of their war experiences, “Shikata Ga Nai” tells of the battles that these now declining heroes have faced on their own without no one else knowing. Watch trailer HERE.

Bowfin Submarine Veteran Pat Suenaga volunteered to help for this movie premiere and provided the pictures below.

Premier Program