Kauaʻi, sometimes written Kauai, is one of the main Hawaiian Islands.
Kauaʻi has an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km), making it the fourth-largest of the islands and the 21st-largest island in the United States. Kauaʻi is 73 miles (117 km) northwest of Oʻahu, across the Kauaʻi Channel. The island's 2020 population was 73,298.
Hawaii (/hə.ˈwaɪ.i/ hə-WY-ee; Hawaiian: Hawaiʻi [hə.ˈvɐj.ʔi, hə.ˈwɐj.ʔi]) is an island state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about 2,000 miles (3,200 km) southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only state not on the North American mainland, the only state that is an archipelago, the only state in the tropics, and one of the two U.S. states, along with Texas, that were internationally recognized sovereign countries before becoming U.S. states.
Hawaii consists of 137 volcanic islands that make up almost the entire Hawaiian archipelago (the exception is Midway Atoll). Spanning 1,500 miles (2,400 km), the state is physiographically and ethnologically part of the Polynesian subregion of Oceania. Hawaii's ocean coastline is consequently the fourth-longest in the U.S., at about 750 miles (1,210 km). The eight main islands, from northwest to southeast, are Niʻihau, Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, Maui, and Hawaiʻi, after which the state is named; the last is often called the "Big Island" or "Hawaiʻi Island" to avoid confusion with the state or archipelago. The uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands make up most of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, the largest protected area in the U.S. and the fourth-largest in the world.
The Hawaiian Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian: Ke Aupuni Hawaiʻi [kɛ ɐwˈpuni həˈvɐjʔi]), was an archipelagic country from 1795 to 1893, which eventually encompassed all of the inhabited Hawaiian Islands. It was established in 1795 when Kamehameha I, then Aliʻi nui of Hawaii, conquered the islands of Oʻahu, Maui, Molokaʻi, and Lānaʻi, and unified them under one government. In 1810, the Hawaiian Islands were fully unified when the islands of Kauaʻi and Niʻihau voluntarily joined the Hawaiian Kingdom. Two major dynastic families ruled the kingdom, the House of Kamehameha and the House of Kalākaua.
The kingdom subsequently gained diplomatic recognition from European powers and the United States. An influx of European and American explorers, traders, and whalers soon began arriving to the kingdom, introducing diseases such as syphilis, tuberculosis, smallpox, and measles, leading to the rapid decline of the Native Hawaiian population. In 1887, King Kalākaua was forced to accept a new constitution after a coup d'état by the Honolulu Rifles, a volunteer military unit recruited from American settlers. Queen Liliʻuokalani, who succeeded Kalākaua in 1891, tried to abrogate the new constitution. She was subsequently overthrown in a 1893 coup engineered by the Committee of Safety, a group of Hawaiian subjects who were mostly of American descent, and supported by the U.S. military. The Committee of Safety dissolved the kingdom and established the Republic of Hawaii, intending for the U.S. to annex the islands, which it did on July 7, 1898, via the Newlands Resolution. Hawaii became part of the U.S. as the Territory of Hawaii until it became a U.S. state in 1959.
Niʻihau, sometimes written Niihau, is the seventh largest island in Hawaii and the westernmost of the main islands. It is 17.5 miles (28.2 km) southwest of Kauaʻi across the Kaulakahi Channel. Its area is 69.5 square miles (180 km). Several intermittent playa lakes provide wetland habitats for the Hawaiian coot, the Hawaiian stilt, and the Hawaiian duck. The island is designated as critical habitat for Brighamia insignis, an endemic and endangered species of Hawaiian lobelioid. The United States Census Bureau defines Niihau and the neighboring island and State Seabird Sanctuary of Lehua as Census Tract 410 of Kauaʻi County, Hawaii. Its 2010 census population was 170, most of them native Hawaiians. As of the 2020 census, the population had fallen to 84. The people of Niʻihau are noted for their gemlike lei pūpū (shell lei) craftsmanship. They speak Hawaiian as a primary language.
Elizabeth Sinclair purchased Niʻihau in 1864 for US$10,000 from the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. The island's private ownership passed on to her descendants, the Robinsons.
None but the Brave is a 1965 anti-war film produced and directed by Frank Sinatra from a screenplay by John Twist and Katsuya Susaki. The film stars Sinatra, Clint Walker, Tommy Sands, Brad Dexter, Tony Bill, and Sammy Jackson as U.S. Marines, and Tatsuya Mihashi, Takeshi Kato, Homare Suguro, Hisao Dazai, Kenji Sahara, and Mashahiko Tanimura as Imperial Japanese soldiers. Stranded on the same uninhabited island during the Pacific War, the two opposing platoons are forced to cooperate to survive.
The film was the first American-Japanese co-production to be shot in the United States, and Sinatra's sole directorial effort. Japanese co-producer Kikumaru Okuda conceived the story. Raoul Walsh, who initially planned to direct, collaborated with Twist on the script before selling it to Sinatra in late 1963. Principal photography commenced in April 1964 on the Hawaiian island of Kauaʻi, and wrapped that June at Warner Bros. Studios Burbank, with a $4 million budget. While Sinatra directed most scenes, Kazuo Inoue helmed those featuring only the Japanese cast. During a filming break, Sinatra was saved from drowning by co-star Dexter, enabling production to proceed as scheduled. Special effects, directed by Eiji Tsuburaya, were shot between May and August 1964. John Williams composed the score, with Kenjiro Hirose advising on Japanese music.