2024-02-28 02:00:00
On February 23rd, His Majesty the Emperor turned 64 years old, and a public visit was held. Akinori Takamori, an imperial family researcher and Shinto scholar, said, “Unusually for the Emperor’s birthday in Tokyo, it rained continuously from the morning.My eldest daughter and I also went to the public shrine visit, but as the time for the visit approached, the number of people visiting was… “He quietly closed his umbrella without anyone telling him to. It was a strange and unexpected sight.”
Photo = Jiji Press Photo
Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress and their eldest daughter Aiko wave at the public visit to celebrate His Majesty’s 64th birthday. Morning of February 23, 2024, Imperial Palace
Unusual “Rainy Emperor’s Birthday”
February 23rd was one of the national holidays, the Emperor’s Birthday. His Majesty the Emperor turned 64 years old on this day.
It rained continuously in Tokyo from the morning, which is unusual for the Emperor’s birthday.
On the Emperor’s birthday, a “general visit” is held in which citizens enter the Imperial Palace to express their congratulations to His Majesty the Emperor. There was a report that said, “Even when I asked veteran Imperial Household Agency employees, they mightn’t remember a past instance in which it rained.” (Hisashi Hashimoto “FNN Prime Online”Delivered on February 23rd at 18:00).
The first public visit to the shrine in the Reiwa era was the New Year General Visit in 2020 (Reiwa 2). The number of visitors at this time was 68,710. Since then, the event has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the number of participants has been limited by lottery to prevent infection. Unfortunately it rained this time, but it was held in its original form for the first time in a while.
The general public New Year’s visit on January 2nd of this year was suddenly canceled at the request of His Majesty the Emperor, in consideration of the serious damage caused by the Noto Peninsula earthquake that occurred the day before.
His Majesty himself seems to have thought regarding the suffering of the disaster victims and considered canceling the general public visit on the Emperor’s birthday, just as he did for the New Year.
General attendance continues to be interrupted and restricted
However, general visits are one of the few opportunities where a wide range of people can directly convey their feelings of celebrating New Year’s and birthdays at the Imperial Palace. Based on the wishes of the people, the Imperial Household Agency has gone out of its way to ask Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress, as well as other members of the Imperial Family, to appear in order to respond to the people’s congratulations.
Since the Reiwa era, this has been suspended or restricted for a while. This year’s New Year’s event was also canceled.
Considering these circumstances, it was an excellent decision to hold the public visit on the Emperor’s birthday in its original form, as it would rouse the spirits of people who tend to feel depressed due to successive disasters and economic stagnation. .
This is not only for those who actually visited the Imperial Palace to visit the Imperial Palace, but also for other members of the imperial family, including their Majesties the Emperor and Empress, and Her Imperial Highness Princess Aiko. The same is probably true for the many people who witnessed the ceremony and experienced the atmosphere of congratulations.
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