Consulate Activities

On Wednesday, December 11, 2019 at the Consul General’s official residence, Dr. Kenneth Toyohiko Ito was conferred the Imperial Decoration, The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, for his contributions to promoting friendship and mutual understanding between Japan and the United States. Dr. Ito has been actively engaged in sister affiliations and exchange promotion activities between Hawaii and the Japanese prefectures of Ehime, Niigata, and Hokkaido, with the belief that it is important for the long-term relationship between Japan and the United States to expand the circle of exchange at the local level and to build a grassroots cooperative relationship.   His connection to Ehime Prefecture is particularly strong, as he played a central role in launching the Ehime Hawaii Goodwill Youth Baseball Exchange, an effort with the purpose of memorializing victims of the 2001 Ehime Maru Incident off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii, as well as strengthening ties between Japan and the United States.