Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko Current Events 1: May 2019 -

[fabaunty]

Happy to hear HIM is recovering

 

[fabaunty]

Happy to hear HIM is recovering

 

[Prisma]

On June 14th, Emperor Emeritus Akihito visited the Imperial Palace to conduct fish research for the first time since June 3, when Empress Emerita Michiko tested positive for Covid-19. He entered the palace after 10am.

Empress Emerita Michiko is slowly resuming daily walks and normal routine.

Photo, info: NTV

 

[Prisma]

On June 20th, Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko privately visited the 150th anniversary exhibition for aristocratic association, Kasumi Kaikan, at Meiji Jingu Museum in Shibuya, Tokyo. They arrived after 10:30am and stayed about an hour. This is Michiko's first public appearance since having Covid-19.

Sources, videos: TBS, NTV

Mixed gallery: TBS

 

[Prisma]

On July 13th, the Emeritus couple had lunch at Yokohama Royal Park Hotel and attended the 17th regular concert of women's chorus "Cool Mone" at Yokohama Minato Mirai Hall in Kanagawa Prefecture.

The chorus consists of graduates from Kita Kamakura Girls' School and this concert included the choral piece "Bouquet of Prayer," composed by Atsutada Otaka for the Emeritus couple's 60th wedding anniversary.

Photo, videos: TBS, FNN

 

[Prisma]

Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko stayed at Nasu Imperial Villa in Tochigi Prefecture from July 25 to 29.

Video, photo of departure from Akasaka Estate on July 25: TBS, TV-Asahi

Photo of return to Tokyo on July 29: Facebook - mika.ryuu.1

 

[Prisma]

On August 22nd, the Emeritus couple started their summer retreat at Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture where they will stay until the 29th. They took the Shinkansen, arriving at JR Karuizawa Station around 1pm.

On August 23rd, the couple will visit the Ohinata district where people repatriated from former Manchuria in China resettled after the war.

Photos: Getty Images, Jiji

 

[Prisma]

On August 23rd, Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko strolled the cabbage fields of Ohinata settlement in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, where people from the former Manchuria, China resettled after the war.

Photos: Getty Images, FNN, nbs-tv.co.jp

Karuizawa is special place for the Emeritus couple as it's where they first met in summer 1957. After marriage, their family visited for summer retreats. The couple grew Yusuge flowers (yellow daylily) given to them by local residents and donated seeds to Karuizawa botanical gardens from 1982 to 1984.

When the Heisei era began, then Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko mainly used Nasu Imperial Villa in Tochigi Prefecture and Susaki Imperial Villa in Shizuoka Prefecture for summer retreats and temporarily stopped visiting Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture after August 1990. They resumed retreats at Karuizawa in summer 2003, visiting the botanical gardens and learned Yusuge flowers were decreasing. From autumn 2003 until 2008, they donated seeds from the Imperial Palace to the botanical gardens.

Empress Emerita Michiko wrote a poem about the blooming Yusuge flowers in Karuizawa in 2002.

Source: Mainichi

 

[Prisma]

On August 27th, Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko visited the tennis court where they first met in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture. They arrived at Karuizawa Association Tennis Club before 11am and watched a match for about 30 minutes. About 100 members welcomed the couple and 94-year-old man played in the match.

Photos: FNN, Jiji

 

[Prisma]

On August 29th, Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko returned to Tokyo from Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture.

Photos/video: shinmai.co.jp
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