Ige Welcomes Abe, Kennedy to Hawaii

Hawaii Gov. David Ige and more than 1,000 guests welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu on Monday. Abe was gifted with a kamaka ukulele shaped like a pineapple, which he enjoyed strumming. Ige and Abe are pictured with Ige’s wife Dawn, daughter Lauren and son Matthew.

Abe met several local Japanese American veterans of World War II during the reception.

Ige also greeted U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy, and the two accompanied Abe to the Ehime Maru Memorial in Kakaako, where the prime minister laid a wreath in memory of nine Japanese boys and men who died when their fishing boat collided with a U.S. Navy submarine off Oahu in 2001. Abe also laid wreaths at the National Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl and Makiki Cemetery, and was scheduled to visit the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor with President Obama on Tuesday.