Jun 06 (Japan Times) - Prince Akishino and his wife, Princess Kiko, arrived in Hawaii on Monday for a six-day official visit to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Japanese immigration there - part of yearlong celebrations.
Prince Akishino laid a white wreath with peace lilies Monday at the National Cemetery of the Pacific in remembrance of fallen U.S. troops.
The couple was accompanied by cemetery director James Horton, and Adm. Phil Davidson, who last week became the commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii, the American military's Pacific headquarters.
The prince also laid a second white wreath at Ehime Maru Memorial in downtown Honolulu's Kakaako Waterfront Park, which commemorates Japanese lives lost when a U.S. Navy submarine rammed into a Japanese fisheries training ship in 2001, killing nine people, including four students.
During their visit, the prince is also scheduled to deliver a speech at a ceremony Thursday marking the arrival of the first group of Japanese immigrants to Hawaii in 1868.
The couple later visited the Bishop Museum and joined an opening ceremony for its special exhibition "Gannenmono: A Legacy of Eight Generations in Hawaii," which honors the first Japanese plantation workers to Hawaii - of which there were about 150 - known as the gannenmono.
Source: ANNnewsCH
