Japan’s Shinzo Abe Pays Respects At Oahu Memorial Sites
The prime minister arrived Monday to visit significant cultural and historical locations around Honolulu, including Punchbowl Cemetery, and to meet with VIPs.
The historic visit to Honolulu of Japan’s top leader began Monday morning at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe paid his respects at several important locations around the city, including a floral tribute at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific known as Punchbowl.
Abe also made a stop at the Japanese section of the Makiki Cemetery Monument that holds the remains of Japanese in Hawaii who died without descendants.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his entourage Monday at Kakaako Waterfront Park. Anthony Quintano/Civil Beat
As well, the prime minister recognized Japanese sailors who died in Hawaii or on navy warships passing by the islands during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
And, the prime minister visited the Ehime Maru Memorial at Kakaako Waterfront Park.
Nine Japanese, some of of them students, died when a Japanese fisheries training ship, the Ehime Maru, sank after accidentally being struck off Oahu by a U.S. nuclear submarine in 2001.
A floral wreath Monday at the Ehime Maru Memorial at Kakaako Waterfront Park. Anthony Quintano/Civil Beat
A reception sponsored by the Consulate General of Japan in Honolulu was scheduled for Monday evening at the Hawaii Convention Center. The guest list is said to include local dignitaries and a lot of Japanese media.
Hawaii Gov. David Ige was among those greeting Abe when he arrived. The two have previously met several times.
Chad Blair is the Politics and Opinion Editor for Civil Beat. You can reach him by email at cblair@civilbeat.org or follow him on Twitter at @chadblairCB.