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ASSOCIATED PRESS / 2013
Prince Fumihito, right, watches with Crown Prince Naruhito, left, and Crown Princess Masako as Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko depart Haneda airport in Tokyo. Fumihito and Princess Kiko will visit Hawaii for the first time next month.
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The Japanese government has announced that Prince Fumihito and Princess Kiko will visit Hawaii for the first time next month.
Fumihito, the second son of Japan’s Emperor Akihito, and his wife, Princess Kiko, are expected to visit Oahu from June 4 to 8 for a total of four nights and five days to build connections with Japanese abroad, according to Takayuki Shinozawa, deputy consul general of the Consulate General of
Japan in Honolulu. The
couple will visit sites on Oahu but will not travel to neighbor islands.
“It’s approved by the
Cabinet,” Shinozawa said. “We’re all so excited.”
The news came shortly after a media briefing Monday afternoon on the upcoming commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Gannenmono, or the first Japanese immigrants to
Hawaii, at the Japanese
Cultural Center of Hawai‘i with two special events in June.
The Association of Nikkei and Japanese Abroad (ANJA) will hold its annual convention June 6, with participants from around the world, and Kizuna
Hawai‘i will present the Gannenmono 150th Anniversary Commemoration and Symposium on June 7 at the Sheraton Waikiki
Hotel.
Akihito announced in December that he would step down from the Chrysanthemum Throne on April 30, 2019, according to The Associated Press.
Akihito will be succeeded by his eldest son, Crown Prince Naruhito. Fumihito, 52, would then ascend to the role of crown prince.
