Public encouraged to sign Books of Condolences in remembrance of Abe

Hawaii County, in partnership with the Honorary Consul General of Japan in Hilo, Art Taniguchi, is hosting Books of Condolences in memory of fallen Japanese 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 on behalf of Prime Minister Abe and his ‘ohana.

The books will be available to the public through Friday.

“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,” Mayor Mitch Roth said in a statement. “Prime Minister Abe was a friend to Hawaii 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,” Taniguchi said in a statement. “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 hosted books of condolences for Japan was in 2011, when The Great Tohoku earthquake destroyed more than 100,000 buildings and triggered a nuclear disaster.