ID :
70910
Sat, 07/18/2009 - 13:19
Auther :

Imperial couple wrap up 15-day trip to Canada, Hawaii

TOKYO, July 16 Kyodo -
Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko returned to Japan on Friday
evening following their 15-day visit to Canada and the U.S. state of Hawaii
during which they interacted with many people of Japanese descent.
The imperial couple arrived at Haneda airport in Tokyo after leaving Kona in
Hawaii on Thursday afternoon.
In the final leg of their itinerary, the couple made a short stopover on Hawaii
Island where they were greeted by enthusiastic well-wishers. The emperor and
empress were welcomed by about 60 local hula dancers at the Kona airport and
some 120 Japanese-Americans at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, some of them shouting
''banzai.''
At the island's Parker Ranch, the two attended a reception hosted by Japanese
Ambassador to the United States Ichiro Fujisaki and Toshio Kunikata, consul
general of Japan in Hawaii. Some 60 local dignitaries and representatives of
Japanese-American groups conversed with the couple at the ranch.
They also enjoyed a performance by 10 cowboys catching calves with a lasso
before concluding their trip.
An 86-year-old second-generation Japanese-American woman, who talked to the
emperor in person in the hotel lobby, told Kyodo News that she was excited to
see the emperor so close to her. ''The emperor told me 'please take care' and I
now wish to live longer to meet him again,'' she said.
The woman said she met Princess Sayako, now Sayako Kuroda by marriage, the only
daughter of the emperor and empress, 10 years ago when she visited Hawaii
Island.
Emily Naelole, a local council member who is a native Hawaiian, told the press
that she was ''so proud and honored'' to have an audience with the imperial
couple. If she had a chance, she wanted to present a Hawaiian Aloha chant to
''send our love'' to them, she said.
Masafumi Honda, associate professor of Japanese Studies at the University of
Hawaii at Hilo, told Kyodo News that he welcomed the royal couple's first visit
to the remote island.
But he said the trip would have been better if they stayed longer and visited
significant places for the Japanese-American community, such as a cemetery for
the early immigrants and a museum about Japanese-Americans.
The royal couple arrived in Hawaii on Tuesday after visiting Ottawa, Toronto,
Victoria and Vancouver to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the establishment
of diplomatic relations between Japan and Canada.
==Kyodo

X