Hawaii's Maui County offers temporary stays for Japanese disaster victims

[AsahinaKimi]

FUKUSHIMA -- Hawaii's Maui County has offered to invite victims of the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami to stay on the Polynesian islands.

Maui Managing Director Keith A. Regan visited the Fukushima city office on April 20, offering to accept Japanese people there who were left without a home because of the quake, tsunami and ensuing nuclear crisis in Fukushima Prefecture to the county, which includes Maui Island, the second-largest island in Hawaii.

Regan, who visited Japan on behalf of the Japanese Cultural Society of Maui, said Hawaiians want to support disaster victims. About 120 households in his county alone have volunteered to host Japanese evacuees, he added.

The visitors will only be allowed to stay in the U.S. for a maximum of three months -- the length of a tourist visa -- but Regan said he hopes the evacuees will take the opportunity to relax on the islands.

According to Regan, the county government is ready to arrange passports for the evacuees and cover their travel fees as well as living expenses during their stay in Maui. Host families will learn basic Japanese phrases in advance.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110422p2a00m0na011000c.html