Howard Hamamoto, who will retire at the end of the year as chairman of the Crown Prince Aki­hito Scholarship Foundation in Hawaii, was recently honored with a private luncheon with Japa­nese Emperor Aki­hito at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.

The emperor and his wife, Empress Michiko, expressed gratitude for Hama­moto’s many years of service with the foundation, according to the Japan-America Society of Hawaii. Hama­moto has been the foundation’s chairman since 2000 and plans to continue to support the organization in a limited capacity.

The foundation was created in Hawaii in 1959 to commemorate the wedding of then-Prince Aki­hito to Princess Michiko.

The organization has provided scholarships to 140 scholars over the years. Scholarship recipients from Hawaii study in Japan, while recipients from Japan study at the University of Hawaii.

Hamamoto and his wife, Joanne, were seated next to Aki­hito and Michiko at a banquet in Waikiki in July 2009 during the royal couple’s visit to Hawaii to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the foundation’s creation.

For more information about the foundation, go to www.jas­hawaii.org/cpas.asp.