Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako, and their daughter Princess Aiko watch a parade at the Imperial Guard's New Year review ceremony at the Imperial Palace East Gardens on January 23.
Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako, and their daughter Princess Aiko attended the Imperial Guard's New Year review on January 23 at the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace. The Imperial Guard is responsible for protecting and providing security for the Imperial Family.
Held under clear winter skies in front of the Tenshudai (stone base of the former Edo Castle keep), the ceremony also marked the 140th anniversary of the Imperial Guard's founding. About 200 personnel took part, with units from the Special Security Unit, regional guard divisions, and the mounted guard parading in sequence. The Imperial Family watched the procession from seats inside a tent and were reported to have asked questions about the roles of the various units.
Celebrating Agriculture
On January 29, the Emperor and Empress met with recipients of the Emperor's Cup at the FY2025 Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Festival, and viewed their agricultural and processed products. The meeting was held at the Imperial Palace.
At the outset, the Emperor said, "I am very pleased that you have overcome many difficulties and achieved outstanding results through research and dedicated effort, contributing to the development of agriculture, forestry and fisheries and to your local communities."
The Emperor and Empress then asked about each recipient's work. To a man in Niigata Prefecture who is cultivating beech forests and developing products such as toys and sports equipment from wood, the Emperor remarked, "That's very innovative," while the Empress asked with concern about the heavy snow in Niigata.
To a man in Gunma Prefecture who produces original varieties of pansies and exports them to the United States, the Empress asked, "In what form are they exported?"
On January 28, Princess Aiko visited the Embassy of Laos in Minato Ward, Tokyo, and attended a dinner hosted by the Lao ambassador and his wife. She had made an official visit to Laos in November 2025
Tokyo Sea Life Park
Crown Prince Akishino (Fumihito), who serves as president of the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums, visited Tokyo Sea Life Park on January 27. The aquarium is raising green sea turtles hatched in the Ogasawara Islands for about two years before returning them to the wild.
The Prince listened attentively to an explanation of the project. He later attended a meeting of aquarium engineers at a Tokyo hall, where he heard presentations on marine breeding programs and transportation methods.
On January 24, Princess Hitachi (Hanako), who is also the Honorary President of the Japan Equestrian Federation, attended the federation's FY2025 awards ceremony at a Tokyo hotel.
Princess Tomohito of Mikasa (Nobuko), visited Kyoto Prefecture from the 24th to 25th, where she attended the New Year ceremony of the Junior Chamber International Japan's 2026 Kyoto Conference.
Noh Performance for Noto Recovery
Princess Akiko of Mikasa visited the Kanze Noh Theatre in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, on January 25 to attend a performance of the Noh play Urushi Kuyo ("Lacquer Memorial"), dedicated to prayers for recovery from the Noto Peninsula earthquake. She spoke with Kiyokazu Kanze, the 26th head of the Kanze school of Noh, and others.
The play was created based on a waka poem composed by Princess Akiko and was planned with her serving as lead organizer to support the lacquer arts of the Noto region, which were damaged by the 2024 Noto earthquake. She said, "I hope that offering Noh in prayer for recovery will help, even in a small way."
Princess Takamado (Hisako) took part on January 27 at the Imperial Wild Duck Preserve in Koshigaya City, Saitama Prefecture, serving as hostess at an event introducing traditional duck hunting to foreign ambassadors.
As Honorary President of Ikebana International, the Princess also attended the organization's 2026 New Year reception at a Tokyo hotel on the 29th.
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Author: The Sankei Shimbun
