Japanese officials visit Big Isle for tsunami day

A Japanese government delegation spent Saturday touring Hilo and discussing emergency response practices with Hawaii island officials as part of the first-ever international World Tsunami Awareness Day.

The Japanese delegation included Ryota Takeda, secretary-general for the Japanese Diet’s House of Representatives, as well as Consul General Yasushi Mi-sawa and representatives from the Japanese ministries of defense and foreign affairs. They were hosted by Hawaii County Managing Director Randy Kurohara, Civil Defense Director Ed Teixeira, Hawaii island District Airports Manager Chauncey Wong Yuen, members of Hawaii County’s emergency management team, and Pacific Tsunami Museum Director Marlene Murray.

The delegation visited the Hilo Airport Incident Command Center for a briefing on the annual tsunami evacuation drill conducted by schools in Keaukaha, which this year was held in tandem with the monthly statewide test of the emergency warning system. The group also toured Keaukaha and tsunami-vulnerable areas of Hilo.