Their Imperial Majesties Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko attended Wednesday Jan 11th with a part of the imperial family the "Kosho hajime no gi" ceremony.

Absent were Their Imperial Highnesses Crown Princess Masako and Princess Kako. The wife of Crown Prince Naruhito was not by his side to attend the "Kosho hajime no gi" alongside with some other members of the Japanese imperial family. With a sitting arrangement of women on one side, the men on the other, to the left and right of the imperial couple. T.I.M Emperor Akihito of Japan and Empress Michiko, sitting in armchairs in front of masked tables of shimmering fabric, faced the speakers who succeeded each other in the course of this annual ceremony. Dressed in turquoise-blue, Princess Mako, 25, had come with her parents Prince Fumihito of Akishino and Princess Kiko.

The "Kosho hajime no gi" or "First Conference" is organized annually in January at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, in the presence of the Japanese monarch and his wife, during the New Year ceremonies. Academics took the floor. Professor Emeritus of the University of Tokyo and member of the Japanese Academy of Sciences, Tetsuya Shiokawa evoked the French mathematician and philosopher of the seventeenth century Blaise Pascal, of whom he is an undisputed specialist. Also featured was Kazuko Mori, professor emeritus at Waseda University, whose main research interests are related to the politics and external relations of contemporary China, and molecular biologist Yoshiyuki Sakaki, 6th president of Toyohashi Technical University and Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo.

Last Saturday, May 14th teams of restorers of the Opificio delle Pietre hard (the Office of the hard stone) in Florence received unusual visitors. While passing through this city, as part of their official one-week trip to Italy, Prince Akishino and his wife Princess Kiko had indeed made a quick visit the laboratories of the institute of scientific research and restoration works art that is among the largest in the world, to see the work in progress. And the youngest son of their Imperial Majesties and his wife have been rather spoiled because they were able to look at two masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance being restored: the painting of the Adoration of Magi painted about 1481 by Leonardo da Vinci and the bronze reliefs of the south door of the baptistery of San Giovanni by Andrea Pisano between 1330 and 1338.

The Japanese royal couple were giving them a private tour of the Uffizi, the Vasari Corridor and the Pitti Palace. Kiko and Akishino ended the day at the Natural History Museum of the Specola.

The Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko were in Italy to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Treaty of friendship and exchange signed between this country and Japan in 1866. This official visit has first conducted in Rome where they arrived this Tuesday, May 10, and then they went to Milan, Bologna and Florence.
Photo Credits: Paris MAtch

May 12th

Spring has arrived in Tokyo. And like every year, Emperor Akihito of Japan and his family celebrate with a garden party.

In Japan, tradition is immutable. Every year at the end of April, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko gave a reception in the Imperial Garden Akasaka in Minato Ward in Tokyo to celebrate spring. And every year the imperial couple received numerous guests in the presence of several members of his family.

For this vintage 2016, this garden party spring was scheduled on Wednesday April 27th. Unlike last year when she was not present, Crown Princess Masako, wife of Crown Prince Naruhito, stood alongside her husband.

Like her mother-in-law and the rest of the women of the imperial family, Masako was dressed in Western. She wore a white suit on top of the same color and was also wearing a white hat. A bibi decorated with pink flowers resting on her hair, Empress Michiko were in turn associated his white suit with stockings and gray shoes. Her other daughter-in-law Princess Kiko, the wife of Prince Akishino, was pale green and the daughter of this one, the Princess Kako, pink. As for men, they wore black jackets as usual white tie and striped gray trousers.
Photo Credits: Paris Match

This year 2016, the Japanese commemorated the 2600th anniversary of the death of their first emperor and mythical founding father, Jimmu. in 660 BC, who died 75 years later in -585, at the age of 126 years. The current Emperor Akihito, who is direct descendant of Jimmu, took part in his homage. This April 3rd in the Nara Prefecture to visit the grave of his very distant ancestor.

His Imperial Majesty Emperor Akihito was not only accompanied by his wife HIM Empress Michiko but his younger son HIH Fumihito, Prince of Akishino and his wife HIH Princess Kiko of Akishino. They visited the tomb of Emperor Jimmu in Kashihara for a ceremony and visited Kashihara-jingu, the Shinto shrine where his spirit is being honored.


"Japan Times" reported that their eldest son Crown Prince Naruhito and his wife Crown Princess Masako meanwhile remained in Tokyo and attended a ritual in honor of Jimmu at the Imperial Palace. Princesses Mako and Kako of Akishino as well as other members of the imperial family were also present. The English Japanese media emphasizes that Princess Masako had not participated in a ceremony at the Imperial Palace in January 2009.

This Monday, April 4th TIM Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko were still in Nara prefecture. They visited the kofun (tomb) of Takamatsuzuka, located in the village of Asuka. It was the first time that the imperial couple discovered that circular mound 18 meters in diameter and 5 meters high, dating from the late seventh and early eighth centuries. For reasons of fragility and conservation, the Emperor and Empress of Japan were unable to get inside. However, they admired the reproduction of its remarkable frescoes contained characters, animals and constellations in the adjacent museum.
Photo Credits: PAris MAtch