TOKYO (AP) – Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and his family greeted throngs of New Year’s well-wishers from a balcony window at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo yesterday.
Some shouted ‘banzai’ – ‘long live’ – while others waved small paper Japanese flags. “I feel for those who are still greatly suffering,” Naruhito said, referring to the quake in western Japan that struck a year ago, as well as flooding and other natural disasters throughout the nation.
Last year, his appearance was cancelled at the last minute because of a devastating quake in the Noto Peninsula that killed hundreds of people.
In the royal family’s New Year video message for this year, released earlier in the week, Naruhito showed a beautifully crafted mask from the Noto area, which are worn by drummers who perform in a traditional style called gojinjo daiko.
The emperor’s 2021 and 2022 greetings, which attract huge crowds to the palace’s usually cloistered grounds, were cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Naruhito also offered prayers for people’s happiness in an appearance that also included his wife Empress Masako and their daughter Princess Aiko.
