COUNTY TO HOST ‘BOOKS OF CONDOLENCES’ FOR PRIME MINISTER SHINZO ABE

COUNTY TO HOST ‘BOOKS OF CONDOLENCES’ FOR PRIME MINISTER SHINZO ABE
Hawaiʻi County, in partnership with the Honorary Consul General of Japan in Hilo, Art Taniguchi, will be
hosting ‘Books of Condolences’ in memory of fallen Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The books can be found in the
Office of the Mayor in both Hilo and Kona and are open to the public for comment. After a week, the books will
be hand-delivered to the Consul General of Japan in Honolulu and sent off to Japan to be stored and archived for
Prime Minister Abe and his ʻohana. The books will be available to the public through Friday, July 15.
“We encourage anyone with a message of solidarity and unity for our Japanese brothers and sisters to come
down to the Mayor’s office and share that message,” said Mayor Mitch Roth. “Prime Minister Abe was a friend
to Hawaiʻi and the United States, and through that, there are many across our state who have been impacted by
his sudden passing. Regardless of our differences with our elected officials, we should all stand against violence
and join the Japanese community in memorial and mourning.”
“Prime Minister Abe was well-respected domestically and internationally, and the world mourns the loss of a
great leader and visionary,” said Art Taniguchi, Honorary Consul General of Japan in Hilo. “We are very
thankful that Mayor Roth has allowed Books of Condolences in the Mayor’s Offices in Hilo and Kona from
Tuesday through Friday. We encourage anyone who wishes to offer their condolences to please go into either
the Hilo or Kona offices of the Mayor and share your thoughts during normal office hours.”
The last time the County of Hawaiʻi hosted books of condolences for Japan was in 2011, when The Great
Tōhoku earthquake destroyed more than 100,000 buildings and triggered a nuclear disaster.
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