Remarks by Consul General Yoshi Kamo 

at the Opening Ceremony of the Honolulu Festival at Washington Place

March 2, 2012

Dear Friends,

It is my great honor to attend this ceremony to kick off this year’s Honolulu Festival today at this beautiful Washington Place along with distinguished guests. Governor Abercrombie: Thank you for opening Washington Place for the Honolulu Festival.

As I listened to the Governor’s remarks, I was reminded of a special significance of the Festival which coincides with the characteristic of the Hawaiian Monarchy. The Governor told us that Queen Liliuokalani opened her arms out to accommodate different cultures into Hawaii. The Hawaiian Monarchy was very keen to be inclusive and made Hawaii multi-cultural in the true sense of the word.

The theme of this year’s 18^th Honolulu Festival is “Bonding together, hand in hand.” This is exactly what Queen Liliuokalani tried to accomplish in Hawaii under her reign some 120 years ago. It is most symbolic and befitting that the Festival gets started from here, Washington Place where Queen Liliuokalani used to live against this backdrop.

On a separate note, it is most gratifying that the Festival is going to be joined by the famous Nagaoka Fireworks this year. The two cities, Honolulu and Nagaoka, just sealed the agreement in establishing the official sister-city relationship between them. The Nagaoka Fireworks will celebrate the new relationship that the two have just entered and add additional allure to the Festival.

Last but not least, it is said that this year will mark the 100 year anniversary of founding JTB, the founding father of the Festival. I wish to offer congratulations to JTB for your birth year and appreciation for your unwavering effort to foster the friendship and partnership between Hawaii and Japan by way of promoting the Honolulu Festival over the years.