The Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo:
THE FRONTLINES OF PREJUDICE
Bruce Yamashita has never regretted the racial discrimination he suffered at the hands of the U.S. Marine Corps or the long legal process that culminated in a landmark legal victory. He says the lessons he learned served to enrich his life as a human being and as a lawyer...Yamashita was in Japan at the invitation of the Japanese government last month. Accompanying him was friend and filmmaker Steve Okino...Okino's 2003 documentary ``A Most Unlikely Hero'' has been shown in Japan-at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, a community hall in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, a high school in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, and elsewhere.
Asahi Shimbun coverage of the Japan tour

Asian American Journalists Association, Los Angeles:
"Although they were said nearly a dozen years ago, the words still had the same effect. The audience laughed ruefully at the premise as it reverberated from the video screen, but the words also struck a chord, reminding everyone in attendance that discrimination and racism are not artifacts of the past."
Link to AAJA-LA's summary of the May 1 event featuring A Most Unlikely Hero

The Honolulu Advertiser calls A Most Unlikely Hero "one compelling hour"
"Okino (who wrote, directed and produced the piece) walks his audience through a shocking but all-too-common injustice, and later a historic fight for remediation, with much of the skill and clarity the officer-candidate-turned-civil-rights-icon demonstrated in his five-year fight against the Marine Corps."
Read the Advertiser's review here.

The Honolulu Star-Bulletin previews A Most Unlikely Hero
Most of Bruce Yamashita's life in Hawaii was sheltered, he says, and he chose "to ignore that discrimination was real, pervasive and insidious part of American society.
Read the Star-Bulletin preview story.

The Honolulu Weekly makes A Most Unlikely Hero its "Hot Pick" of the week:
"I just wanted to be a marine," Bruce Yamashita says in the documentary A Most Unlikely Hero by O'ahu-based filmmaker Steve Okino. A Georgetown law school graduate, Yamashita enrolled in the Marine Corps' Officer Candidate School in 1989. He wasn't prepared for the no-holds-barred racism he encountered.

"One person with the courage to stand up can, in effect, change one of the most powerful institutions in the United States..."
Read The Hawaii Herald story on the documentary project. (Acrobat PDF file, 596k download)

A Most Unlikely Hero featured on the national radio program Pacific Time.
"One Man's Battle Against Discrimination in the U.S. Marines--A new documentary will premiere on PBS about one man's lonely battle against discrimination in the U.S. Marine Corps in the early '90s. His efforts paved the way for a whole new crop of officers. Reporter: Cynthia Gouw"

Listen to the Pacific Time report at the KQED-FM website. (September 18 broadcast; check the program's archives for the report.)

"'Patriotism is not just going off to war,' Yamashita added. 'Sometimes we have to fight the cause in many different ways. It means we have to be vigilant. There are problems still there. Even with the changes made, minorities are still being forced out... The story is still relevant today. The struggle still goes on.'
Read The Honolulu Star-Bulletin story on Bruce's case and the documentary project.

"...the issues raised by Yamashita's case are particularly relevant after the events of 9/11 led to discussions of diminishing civil liberties."
Read The Honolulu Advertiser story on the project.

The Hawaii Herald story on the documentary project. (Acrobat PDF file, 596k download)