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Remarks by Consul General Yoshihiko Kamo 

at the 2012 Shinnen Enkai of the United Japanese Society of Hawaii

January 21, 2012 

皆様、新年あけましておめでとうございます。Happy New Year to you!

It is my honor and privilege to join you in this year’s Shinnen Enkai of the United Japanese Society of Hawaii here at the Japanese Cultural Center. This is my third to participate in your annual celebration of the New Year. I am most pleased and encouraged to find out that Rika Hirata is here to serve as our co-MC as she represents the Shin-Issei (New First Generation Immigrants).

I am honored to be invited to this distinguished gathering and I am supposed to offer my congratulatory remarks to cheer up your hopes and aspirations for the New Year. But today, I would like to do differently. As luck would have it, we have Mayor Carlisle here. I will ask the Mayor to do the job with his usual eloquent words and beautiful performance.

So please allow me, first, to look back the passed year of 2011. It was a memorable year; a terrible year, I must say from the Japanese point of view, as you can easily agree. In last March, the gigantic earthquake as well as the subsequent deadliest tsunami hit Tohoku of Japan and left unprecedented devastation to the area. To make the matter worse, the nuclear disaster was brought about due to the tsunami. It was a nightmare, but we also had some consolations. The Tohoku people showed human dignity and stoicism in time of emergency. They are true heroes to be recognized and praised.

Today we have just recognized six recipients of Japan’s Imperial Decorations in the year 2011 and one recipient of Japan’s Foreign Minister’s Award at today’s Shinnen Enkai. We are so fortunate that we have three honorees with us who made great contribution to bonding us tighter between Japan and Hawaii. They made us proud and elated just as the people of Tohoku who made a difference. It is thoughtful that the United Japanese Society of Hawaii highlights the Imperial Decoration recipients each year at their annual Shinnen Enkai. Listening to the feats that they have done, I felt a sense of achievement and satisfaction of my work here. In the past two and a half years of my tour of duty here, I have assisted eleven honorees to get recognized by the Japanese government.

Today we have also recognized large donations for Japan Disaster Relief. The statewide fundraising campaign called the Aloha for Japan played an important role in sending Japan the spirit of Aloha. There were overwhelming supports giving away to Japan from Hawaii. The triple disasters were certainly unfortunate, but we were successful in making it a better opportunity by learning that we did not stand alone but were connected to our friends in Hawaii and elsewhere.

Thank you Hawaii and Thank you RENKYO for your help! Now, Mayor, it’s your turn. We look forward to your beautiful and thoughtful words to make us happy and aspirant for the New Year.