Imperial Palace hosts New Year ceremony

Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako received New Year’s greetings from other imperial family members and the country’s leaders, including Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, at a ceremony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Wednesday.

Imperial family members, including Crown Prince Akishino, the younger brother of the emperor, and his wife, Crown Princess Kiko, delivered statements to celebrate the start of the New Year to the emperor and empress, followed by similar greetings by Ishiba, his Cabinet ministers and the heads of both chambers of parliament.

On Thursday, the imperial family will greet the public at the Imperial Palace, a New Year’s event that will be held for the first time in two years. The 2024 event was canceled due to the powerful earthquake that hit the Noto Peninsula in central Japan on the first day of the year.

With no advance registration required for this year’s event, the palace will be open to anyone who wishes to enter, just as it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prince Hisahito, the son of Akishino and Kiko who turned 18 last year and became an adult member of the imperial family, is set to start attending events at the palace after a coming-of-age ceremony to be held for him following his high school graduation this spring. He did not join the New Year’s ceremony on Wednesday and will not appear at Thursday’s greeting event.