Tochiho Enomoto of Pauoa would love to get even a glimpse of the emperor and empress of Japan on their first trip to Hawai'i in 15 years, a visit that will continue to cement a relationship between Japan and the Islands that dates back to at least King David Kalakaua.

Enomoto, 70, was born in Tokyo, married a Hawai'i local boy from Kaimuki and became an American citizen 20 years ago but still feels a bond to the imperial family.

She does not have tickets or plans to attend any of the official functions that Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko will attend in Honolulu and Kona over three days.

"But I want to show my affection for the royal family," Enomoto said. "I pay attention to what they're doing and what they think."

The most public event occurs Tuesday morning. After the royal couple arrives at Hickam Air Force Base, Emperor Akihito will visit a shower tree he planted in 1960 in Kapi'olani Park when he was the crown prince.

Lois Yasui is a 67-year-old sansei, or third-generation Japanese-American, and a former principal of Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawai'i. She recently was inducted as the new president of the United Japanese Society of Hawai'i.

In her new role, Yasui feels "privileged" to attend the three big events on Wednesday: A morning wreath-laying at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific; a luncheon with Gov. Linda Lingle at Washington Place; and an evening banquet at the Hilton Hawaiian Village celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Crown Prince Akihito Scholarship, named after the now-emperor.

"For many people who live in Hawai'i, we're not used to royalty," Yasui said. "Many people are very excited. It is a special occasion."

While Yasui's son and grandchildren in Seattle are less interested in an imperial visit, "I'm excited," she said.

"I was totally raised in Hawai'i but I'm still of Japanese ancestry. There remains some affinity toward the emperor and empress."

TIES BACK TO KALAKAUA ERA

Interest in the imperial family among Islanders of Japanese descent waned — or at least went underground — in the days before and after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, when first- and second-generation issei and nisei fought to prove their loyalty to America.

More recently, feelings toward the modern royal family may be dissipating among some third-generation sansei and their yonsei and gosei offspring, said Brian Niiya, director of program development at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i and the editor of "The Encyclopedia of Japanese American History."

But the cultural, economic and political ties with Hawai'i in a world of increasing globalization mean the relationship between Japan and the Islands ultimately will "get stronger and stronger," said Dennis Ogawa, a University of Hawai'i professor of American studies. "It just makes good sense."

The close relationship between Hawai'i and Japan can be documented as far back as the early 1800s, when representatives of the royal family fanned out across the globe on the orders of Emperor Meiji, documenting their experiences in Hawai'i, among other places, in diaries.

"Of all the places the Japanese went to pay their respects — including to the queen of England and queen of Spain," Ogawa said, "... there was only one place where they bowed so deeply that they kissed the earth — that showed awesome respect — and that was to the monarchs of Hawai'i. There was something spiritual and something deep here and the Japanese understood that."

When the S.S. City of Tokyo arrived in 1885 with Japanese immigrant workers, "Kalakaua was on the pier to greet each one and give each of them a silver dollar," Ogawa said.

Kalakaua, worried about U.S. interests that were taking control of the Islands, later proposed a marriage pact between the prince of Japan and Princess Ka'iulani.

Even today, Ogawa said, interest in Hawai'i among Japanese tourists surpasses the beaches and the comfort of so many familiar faces on local residents.

"There remains a spiritual connection," Ogawa said.

SIDESTEPPING PEARL HARBOR

Sixty-eight years after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, this week's visit by the royal family is not without its political intrigue.

As he did in 1994, the emperor will lay a wreath at Punchbowl. Also as in '94, he has no plans to visit the USS Arizona Memorial, the symbol of Japanese aggression that drew America into World War II.

"It's significant but we don't really know why or how," said Bob Huey, director of the UH Center for Japanese Studies. "For some reason, Pearl Harbor is a hotter-button issue than Punchbowl. Whose feelings are they trying to spare? Those of us who have discussed this issue aren't sure why Pearl Harbor is, once again, being avoided."

The issue also raises questions about who controls the itinerary and symbolism of an imperial visit, Huey said.

"The agendas of the Imperial Household Agency and the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs are not necessarily the same," Huey said.

When asked why the emperor is not visiting Pearl Harbor, Vice Consul Yusuke Ozawa, spokesman for the consulate general of Japan in Honolulu, said, "The purpose of the visit this time is to attend the scholarship banquet at the Hilton hotel," the scholarship that bears the emperor's name.

When further asked about it, Ozawa said, "He's 75 years old and he'll be tired after an 11-day-long trip to Canada. The visit is already tight."

Niiya, of the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i, believes there's another reason.

"Even as a Japanese-American, there's a certain discomfort in going to the Arizona Memorial," Niiya said. "You feel people looking at you, whether they are or not. You may be being oversensitive. But being a historian who's looked at some of these things, you realize how salient race was not so very long ago and some would argue still is."