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Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko began a five-day visit to Kyoto and Nara prefectures on Sunday, their first trip outside of Tokyo since 2019.
Akihito, 89, and Michiko, 88, who remain popular throughout Japan, have refrained from traveling due to the coronavirus. Waving to well-wishers, the couple left Tokyo Station on a bullet train at around 11 a.m. Sunday, bound for Kyoto.
In Kyoto, the couple will attend the Aoi Festival, one of Kyoto’s three major festivals, and visit Daishoji Temple. On Tuesday, they will go to Nara Prefecture where they will visit Chuguji Temple and the Nara History, Art and Culture Village in Tenri.
They will return to Tokyo on Thursday.
© Japan Today
12 Comments
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wallace
How very nice for them. Hope the weather holds good.
OssanAmerica
It was probably a good idea for them to refrain from travel the last 3 years at their age.
nandakandamanda
Wonderful. Wishing them a happy trip. I wonder what special memories these temples hold for them?
garypen
He looks so much happier not having to do all that emperor stuff anymore.
Mark
Glad to see the Emperor and the Empress in good health and touring , best of luck for the two and I wish them well .
Mark
What a Beautiful and charming photo, thank you JT.
falseflagsteve
Hope they have better security than poor Mr Abe. Seems to be plenty of nutters about lately with evil intent
Wesley
I really like this photo of them. They look so happy together.
opheliajadefeldt
What a lovely photo of them. Good luck to them!!
WA4TKG
Don’t feed the deer and don’t forget to hit an onsen or two.
MilesTeg
They're the best representatives for Japan. It's too bad they're so old and retired but they deserve their free time now. They're compassionate, intelligent, and graceful. Akihito has pissed off conservatives, the LDP, nationalists, and right wingers with his many trips overseas, wishing the royal family to be more informal, expressing sincere remorse for WWII, anti-militaristic stance, and even commenting on his Korean heritage. Hoping his son will carry-on his honesty and sincere approach.
starpunk
Wow, age is very apparent on these two. But it's graceful look with their age, the look of wisdom that should come with old age.
Native American nations respect people like these two because of their age, meaning that they've lived a lot and can tell us a thing or two (hopefully).
And this sentiment is best displayed in this photo. Pictures truly can state a 1000 words. And in this scenario, a 1000 stories, from their own lives and times.