Recipients of the Crown Prince Akihito Scholarship Foundation (CPASF) scholarships gathered on May 14, 2010 at the Japanese Consulate in Honolulu to accept their awards from the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Mr. Howard Hamamoto.

Consul General Yoshihiko Kamo and Mrs. Etsuko Kamo hosted the event at their consulate residence. In attendance were Foundation Trustees, and University of Hawaii Foundation guests Ms. Malia Peters and Ms. Donna Vuchinich. Afterwards, scholars, Trustees, and other invited guests were treated to refreshments provided by the Consulate.

Five scholars were given certificates this year: Ms. Natsuko Higa (2008-2010 recipient), with B.A. and M.A. degrees in Cultural Anthropology from Kyoto University, is researching Village Economics in the Kingdom of Tonga and is pursuing a PhD with the Department of Anthropology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Ms. Hiromi Yoshida (2008-2010 recipient), with B.A. in Literature and M.A. in Human Sciences from Waseda University in Tokyo, is pursuing her M.A. in Second Language Studies focusing on Sociolinguistics at UH Manoa while a candidate for PhD at Waseda. Ms. Satona Murakami (2009-2011 recipient), with M.D. from Shinshu University and PhD in Medical Science from Nagoya City University, is pursuing her M.A. in Clinical Research at the UH John A Burns School of Medicine. Mr. Yohei Sekiguchi (2009-2011 recipient), with B.A. and M.A. degrees in English from the University of Tokyo, is pursuing a PhD in American Studies focusing on the cultural and historic aspects of the Vietnam War Literature at UH Manoa. Ms. Sharon Fukayama (2010-2011 recipient), with B.A. in Environmental Information from Keio University and M.A. in Education from Chaminade University, is pursuing a PhD in Education with a specialization in Curriculum Studies focusing on Japanese, English dual language education at UH Manoa, College of Education and will be conducting research in Japan.

The Crown Prince Akihito Scholarship was established in 1959 to commemorate the wedding of then Crown Prince Akihito and Princess Michiko. The purpose of the scholarship is to promote better understanding between the peoples of Japan and the United States by providing scholarships to UH scholars to study in Japan and Japanese scholars to study at UH. The Emperor and Empress of Japan honors the scholars with a personal audience at their residence in the Imperial Palace. A total of 132 scholarships have been granted.