Hawaii Gov. Lingle Hosts Japan’s Emperor and Empress
Hawaii Gov. Lingle Hosts Japan’s Emperor and Empress
Japan’s Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko recently completed a three-day visit to Hawaii following an 11-day goodwill visit to Canada. Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle hosted the imperial couple at historic Washington Place, the governor’s residence until 2002, for an official luncheon, and U.S. beef was the center of the plate.
Hawaii Gov. Lingle (r.) hosted Emperor Akihito (l.) and Empress Michiko (2nd from r.) and other dignitaries at a special luncheon featuring Hawaiian beef.
According to Glenn K. Shigeta, special assistant to Gov. Lingle, the three-course meal was an opportunity to showcase products from Hawaii, served in small demi portions with emphasis on freshness, presentation and taste. The quartet of Island beef was ribeye from Maui, filet from Big Island, Hawaii, short rib from the north shore of Oahu and red veal medallion. Accompanying the beef was a fillet of Hawaiian farmed moi.
“While the role of the Japanese emperor today is highly symbolic, it is significant that the emperor dined on U.S. beef on his visit to Hawaii,” said Philip Seng, USMEF president and CEO. “In fact, some of the beef that he and the empress enjoyed was older than 20 months of age. This should be seen as an encouraging sign and a tacit endorsement when the U.S. resumes beef access discussions with the Government of Japan.”
The 125th Emperor of Japan, the 75-year-old Akihito succeeded to the Chrysanthemum throne in 1989. Other dignitaries present for the luncheon included Ichiro Fujisaki, ambassador of Japan; Toshio Kunikata, consul general of Japan; former Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda; James Zumwalt, acting U.S. ambassador to Japan, and Admiral Timothy Keating, commander of PACOM (U.S. Pacific Command).
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The U.S. Meat Export Federation (www.USMEF.org) is the trade association responsible for developing international markets for the U.S. red meat industry and is funded by USDA, exporting companies, and the beef, pork, corn and soybean checkoff programs.
For more information, contact Jim Herlihy at jherlihy@usmef.org.
Hawaii Gov. Lingle Hosts Japan’s Emperor and Empress
Japan’s Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko recently completed a three-day visit to Hawaii following an 11-day goodwill visit to Canada. Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle hosted the imperial couple at historic Washington Place, the governor’s residence until 2002, for an official luncheon, and U.S. beef was the center of the plate.
Hawaii Gov. Lingle (r.) hosted Emperor Akihito (l.) and Empress Michiko (2nd from r.) and other dignitaries at a special luncheon featuring Hawaiian beef.
According to Glenn K. Shigeta, special assistant to Gov. Lingle, the three-course meal was an opportunity to showcase products from Hawaii, served in small demi portions with emphasis on freshness, presentation and taste. The quartet of Island beef was ribeye from Maui, filet from Big Island, Hawaii, short rib from the north shore of Oahu and red veal medallion. Accompanying the beef was a fillet of Hawaiian farmed moi.
“While the role of the Japanese emperor today is highly symbolic, it is significant that the emperor dined on U.S. beef on his visit to Hawaii,” said Philip Seng, USMEF president and CEO. “In fact, some of the beef that he and the empress enjoyed was older than 20 months of age. This should be seen as an encouraging sign and a tacit endorsement when the U.S. resumes beef access discussions with the Government of Japan.”
The 125th Emperor of Japan, the 75-year-old Akihito succeeded to the Chrysanthemum throne in 1989. Other dignitaries present for the luncheon included Ichiro Fujisaki, ambassador of Japan; Toshio Kunikata, consul general of Japan; former Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda; James Zumwalt, acting U.S. ambassador to Japan, and Admiral Timothy Keating, commander of PACOM (U.S. Pacific Command).
# # #
The U.S. Meat Export Federation (www.USMEF.org) is the trade association responsible for developing international markets for the U.S. red meat industry and is funded by USDA, exporting companies, and the beef, pork, corn and soybean checkoff programs.
For more information, contact Jim Herlihy at jherlihy@usmef.org.