Amid the hundreds who gathered at Kapi'olani Park yesterday for a brief glimpse of Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, perhaps none appreciated the bittersweet implications the imperial visit would have for Japanese-Americans in Hawai'i more than 70-year-old Helen Wadahara.

"I needed to be here," said Wadahara, a retired schoolteacher. "I've been to Japan and I've visited the imperial palace, but I've never seen the emperor in person. This was my one chance."

The emperor and empress stopped off at the park shortly after their arrival at Hickam Air Force Base. The official purpose of the visit was for their majesties to visit a rainbow shower tree Akihito planted on Sept. 23, 1960, in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of U.S.-Japan relations.

For practical purposes, the event served as the lone public appearance of the royal couple during their whirlwind three-day visit to Honolulu and Kona.

Their majesties are on their way back to Japan following an 11-day tour of Canada, marking 80 years of diplomatic relations between those two countries.

Wadahara secured a shady spot on Kalakaua Avenue, just just behind the secured 50-yard perimeter, about an hour before the emperor and empress arrived. There she waited patiently as hundreds of others, mostly Japanese nationals, filled the spaces around her.

Wadahara was still a child when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

Her father, George Nakamoto, a nisei, was working at the shipyard when the first bombs hit and he spent the rest of that dark day rescuing survivors from the water with his tugboat.

Nakamoto, who died in 2002, would earn commendations for his valor during the attack, but like other Japanese-Americans he and his family would find themselves taking desperate measures to prove their loyalty to the country of their birth.

Wadahara recalls being upset when, in the days following the attack, neighbors turned on neighbors and the FBI raided the homes of residents suspected of maintaining allegiances to Japan. Her mother cleared their home of anything Japanese.

"She even put up a picture of (President Franklin) Roosevelt," Wadahara said.

Still, it wasn't until Wadahara left Hawai'i in 1957 to attend college in Colorado that she realized the broader impact that the Japanese attack had on Americans of Japanese ancestry.

"When I was there, I met people who had been relocated to internment camps," she said. "I didn't know. I had never read about it. It was so appalling that America had the gall to do that."

Wadahara said that, 45 years on the Mainland notwithstanding, she considers herself "very much with the culture" of Japan, right down to the furniture that adorns her Mililani home.

"Our ties with Japan are unique," she said. "The emperor's visit here today is historical. It's very exciting."

ROUND OF APPLAUSE

Organizers expected about 300 onlookers, but the crowd swelled to well in excess of that by the time the motorcade arrived just before 4 p.m.

The crowd broke into applause as the 75-year-old Akihito, dressed in modest gray suit, emerged from a black limousine, followed by the empress.

Akihito and Michiko were greeted by a contingent of local dignitaries including Mayor Mufi Hannemann; Honolulu City Councilman Todd Apo; Honolulu Police Chief Boisse Correa; former Gov. George Ariyoshi and his wife, Jean; former Hawai'i first lady Lynne Waihe'e; former University of Hawai'i President Fujio Matsuda; Hawai'i Hochi publisher Paul Yempuku; Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i president and director Lenny Yajima Andrew; 100th Battalion veteran Richard Arakaki; JTB Hawai'i vice president Keiichi Tsujino; and others.

Also on hand were about 60 students from Rainbow Gakuen, a school for children of Japanese citizens in Hawai'i.

The students waved Japanese and American flags as the emperor and empress approached and received a personal greeting as the couple passed.

"This is a very exciting experience for the kids and their parents," said supervisor Hideaki Oshima. "In Japan, they would have to go somewhere to see the emperor and empress. This time, the emperor and empress came to see them."

After greeting the children, Akihito and Michiko turned to the crowd assembled beyond the yellow security tape and gave an extended wave, drawing a huge roar and several cries of "Banzai!"

"That would never have happened with previous emperors," said former Gov. Ariyoshi. "Others were trained not to respond to crowds. But there is a big difference between this emperor and the one before. (Akihito) opens himself up. He travels more. He's very well liked."

EARLIER MEETINGS

Ariyoshi has met the emperor several times since Akihito's first visit to Hawai'i as crown prince in 1960. Ariyoshi was one of a select group of foreigners invited to attend Akihito's coronation; he also met the emperor during an official visit with then-President Clinton at the Rose Garden, and at a memorial service for Akihito's father, Hirohito.

As governor, Ariyoshi was among the first to strongly emphasize close trade relationships with Japan, thereby elevating the United States' presence in a region whose economic influence was just beginning to blossom.

During his brief encounter with the emperor yesterday, Ariyoshi said he reiterated his wish that the U.S.-Japanese relationship "continue to flourish and bring good."

Fumiko Miller, 55, of Wai'alae Iki came to the park two hours early with her 81-year-old mother, who is visiting from Shiga Prefecture in Japan.

"She's so excited," Miller said. "Never in her 81 years has she seen the emperor."

Yesterday was the second time Miller was able to see the emperor in person, but the thrill was the same.

"For me, he is like a god," Miller said. "For young people, it's different. But for older people, especially from the country, we have so much respect for him."

The visit was an unexpected twist in Mary Jane Polowyk's Hawaiian vacation.

"How often would we have a chance to see the emperor?" said Polowyk, 66. "We're from Cleveland! It's the chance of a lifetime."

Chiho Lyons, 33, moved from Osaka to Waikiki eight years ago. She said time and distance have helped her to appreciate "what a great country Japan is."

"I love Hawai'i, but I miss Japan a lot," she said. "I'm proud to be Japanese, and it's very exciting to see the emperor here."

Lyons first saw the emperor when she was a child attending a commemoration of Hirohito. Yesterday, she brought her children, Denis, 4, and Nina, 11 months, to the park to witness history.

"I really want them to know the emperor and empress because they are part Japanese," she said. "This is part of them."