Commissioning and first results from BELLE

In this paper, we present commissioning results and first data from the BELLE experiment at the KEK B-factory. The performance of individual sub-detectors will be discussed based on results mainly from roughly 25 pb−1 of e+e− data taken by summer 1999 at or near the ϒ(4S) resonance. Some analysis results are presented to demonstrate the feasibility of the experiment for detailed studies of B meson decays.