Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan will participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at Punchbowl cemetery during their Hawaiçi visit next month, the Japanese government announced today.

They will also attend a banquet at the Hilton Hawaiian Village and visit Kapiçolani Park, but are not scheduled to visit the USS Arizona Memorial, according to the official itinerary.
News of the royal couple’s visit was first reported in March, but today’s release provided the first details of the trip.
They will stop in Hawaiçi July 14 to 16, on their way home from an 11-day tour of Canada. It will be their first visit to Hawaiçi since 1994.
They are scheduled to arrive in Honolulu on July 14 and then go to Kona on
July 16, where they will spend the day before flying out later that day.
The main public event is expected to be a banquet in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Crown Prince Akihito Scholarship Foundation at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.
Edwin Hawkins, president of the Japan-America Society of Hawaii, which administers the scholarship, said in March that the plan is to open the event to the public.
Hawkins said the plan also is to invite the 129 people who have received scholarships over the years.
The Crown Prince Akihito Scholarship Foundation was established as a wedding gift to the couple by residents of Hawaiçi in 1959. Each year, two students from the University of Hawaiçi are given scholarships to study in Japan and two Japanese students are granted scholarships to study in Hawaiçi.
Other scheduled events for Akihito and Michiko are:
• A luncheon hosted by Gov. Linda Lingle.
• A wreath-laying ceremony at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl.
• A visit to Kapiçolani Park.
• A reception at Parker Ranch on the Big Island co-hosted by the ambassador of Japan and the consul general of Japan in Honolulu.
Dates of the events were not announced.
The emperor and empress will begin their trip July 3. In Canada, they will visit the cities of Ottawa, Toronto, Victoria and Vancouver.