The Emperor will only grant audiences to the public twice a year, once on his birthday and the other on 2 Jan.. so I would definitely wanna "visit" him this year, since I might no longer be in Japan this time next year.. At first I was worried that this year's birthday audiences might be canceled as the Emperor was sick the past few days (according to the news).. but luckily, it wasn't.
The gates were opened at 9:30am, and I reached the Palace grounds around 9:40am.. There were people giving away small Japanese flags made from paper... I took one.. As expected, the securities were tight and those who wanna get into the restricted compound had to be searched and then body-searched.. The crowd was huge.. and then we were ushered into the restricted compound.. Along the way, there were many policemen, plain clothes and security forces eying the crowd, looking for any possible "terrorists" I believe.. but frankly, with the Imperial Royal Family being just a ceremonial symbol in Japan, I don't think there is anything to gain by harming them..
Anyway, people walked slowly and followed the instructions given.. Soon we reached the compound where the Imperial Family would make their appearances.. Here is a short video of the compound where we await.
There was quite a number of foreigners attending, as one can see from the video.. I was standing beside a group of Indonesian students.. but still the crowd was a mixture of 70% Japanese and 30% foreigners.. Seemed like the Imperial Family still represent something of a significance to the Japanese public.. We waited for more than 30 minutes until 10:20am when the Imperial Family members made their appearance at the platform..
From left, Crown Princess Masako, Crown Prince Naruhito, HM Emperor Akihito, Empress Michiko, Prince and Princess Akishino.. Too bad the kids didn't show up.. would love to see the Princess Aiko and little Prince Hisahito..Everyone waved their little flags and cheered.. Then HM Emperor Akihito gave a royal speech, which lasted about 5 minutes.. Here is a short clip of it..
Once HM Emperor Akihito's speech was over, there were shouts of "Banzai" among the crowd.. The little old lady standing beside me was over the moon when she saw the Imperial Family.. She kept saying, "Ureshii! Ureshii!" which translated to "Happy".. Then the Imperial Family went back into the house and it was over.. the crowd was then ushered out slowly but systematically..
And so ended my trip to see the Emperor of Japan.. :)
More photos here!!
1 comment:
Wow ! you ran into Emperior of Japan!!!I 've never run into him in person .
Merry Christmas to you.
Called you on your birthday, but u didnt response to me:(
you are having same birthday with my best friend in life.
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