Japan Emperor, Empress host garden party for 1,800 guests; attendees include Mangaka, former Women's softball coach
The Yomiuri ShimbunThe Emperor and Empress attend the spring garden party at the Akasaka Imperial Gardens in Motoakasaka, Tokyo, on Tuesday with other members of the Imperial family. - Photo: The Yomiuri Shimbun
TOKYO: The Emperor and Empress hosted the spring garden party at the Akasaka Imperial Gardens in Motoakasaka, Tokyo, on Tuesday (April 22) afternoon, welcoming about 1,800 guests.
The Imperial couple and other members of the Imperial family simultaneously followed three separate paths among the guests, as a measure to prevent heatstroke and increase the guests' opportunities to exchange words with members of the Imperial family.
It was the first time for this approach to be adopted since the Akasaka Imperial Gardens became the venue for the party in 1963.
Invited for their contributions in various fields, the guests included mangaka Tetsuya Chiba, 86, and former women's softball national team coach Taeko Utsugi, 72. Also present was pro golfer Isao Aoki, 82.
After forming a line on the lawn at the venue, the members of the Imperial family divided into three groups: the Emperor and Empress; Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko; and the Emperor's daughter Princess Aiko and the crown prince's daughter Princess Kako.
Previously, the Emperor and Empress would lead the procession, followed by other members of the Imperial Family.
However, recently temperatures have risen even at this time of year, and some attendees have become unwell while waiting for their turn to speak with the Imperial couple and other family members.
Taking this into consideration, the Imperial Household Agency consulted with the Emperor and Empress and decided to change the approach.
The agency hoped that reducing waiting times would also allow guests to enjoy their food and the natural ambience of the venue.
The garden parties are believed to date back to 1880, when Emperor Meiji held a chrysanthemum viewing party.
Currently, the parties are held twice a year in spring and autumn.
The serving of alcoholic beverages was resumed at Tuesday's party following a hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mutton barbecue with lamb from the Imperial Stock Farm in Tochigi Prefecture and yakitori were among the food and drink served at tents set up at the venue. - The Yomiuri Shimbun/ANN
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
2 days ago
- The Star
'Addison' review: A new pop powerhouse is born in Addison Rae
Addison Rae's debut, Addison, is full, stuffed with bejeweled, hypnotic pop songs for the post-BRAT crowd. The pop album of the summer is here. Addison Rae's debut, Addison , is full, stuffed with bejeweled, hypnotic pop songs for the post- BRAT crowd. Hedonism has a new hero. For those who've watched her rise, it's almost impossible to believe. It wasn't so long ago - almost exactly a year into the Covid-19 pandemic - that a young Rae went on The Tonight Show and taught its host Jimmy Fallon a few stiff, meme-able TikTok dance moves, then what made up the bulk of her career. It was met with almost immediate backlash, as is common for young women with viral posts. But she wielded it like a weapon: Social media celebrity begat acting roles for Rae, then a coveted collaboration with Charli XCX in the form of a Von Dutch remix, and now, at age 24, her final form: becoming the hyper-ambitious, hyper-femme pop star for the current moment. As a full body of work, Addison taps into the genre-agnostic zeitgeist, where pop music appears edgy and elastic. The songs speak for themselves, from the pitch-shifted trip-hop Headphones On and the snapped percussion, minor chords, NSFW lyrics and vanishing synths of High Fashion to the Madonna Ray of Light -cosplay Aquamarine atop a house beat and its chantable, spoken chorus: "The world is my oyster/ Baby, come touch the pearl/ The world is my oyster/ And I'm the only girl". Humour and girlhood are intertwined with less of a Sabrina Carpenter-wink and more of cheery irony. "Money loves me," she yells on Money Is Everything . "I'm the richest girl in the world! Then, a giggle and a kiss." ("Girl", to this writer's count, is uttered 20 times across the album. Across its 12 tracks, she is both the divine feminine and the girl next door. Often, they are one in the same.) Rae isn't reinventing the wheel here, but she is carefully pulling from her inspirations. Her story recalls Britney Spears: The pair are from Louisiana, became famous young, and recorded their unique, sensual, layered pop music in Stockholm, Sweden, in and around super producer Max Martin. There's the earned Lana Del Rey parity, like in the Born to Die -channeling Diet Pepsi , echoes of Charli in the bouncy opener New York , and tinges of ethereal Enya production on the dreamy Summer Forever . For Addison , Rae partnered with two primary collaborators - Luka Kloser and Elvira Anderfjärd, who goes simply by Elvira - an unusually small team for a major label pop release. But that intimacy is one of the album's superpowers, a sensibility that teeters between close mic recordings and big late-night anthems. In the latter case, look no further than Fame Is a Gun , an easy song-of-the-summer contender, a sunglasses-in-the-club banger with synthetic vocal textures and an unignorable chorus. In the lead up to the release of Addison , Rae has positioned her early TikTok fame as a means to an end. There aren't many avenues to Hollywood from Lafayette, Louisiana, and social media, for some, is a democratizing tool. Rae used her dance training to build a name for herself on the platform, something that has no doubt laid an ideal foundation for pop superstardom - just consider how Justin Bieber did something similar with covers on YouTube not so many years ago. It feels full circle, then, that Rae's stellar debut album aims to do what her videos on TikTok attempted to do, what she's always wanted to do - dance, and get others to dance, too. — AP
The Star
3 days ago
- The Star
Princess Kako visits Japanese Cultural Centre in Sao Paulo
Princess Kako listens to explanations on exhibits at the Japan House in Sao Paulo on Thursday (June 5, 2025). - Photo: The Yomiuri Shimbun SAO PAULO, (Brazil): Princess Kako, the second daughter of Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko, visited a centre for experiencing Japanese culture in Sao Paulo on Thursday (June 5) during her official visit to Brazil. At the centre, called the Japan House, the princess inspected crafts made from recycled materials and exhibits related to the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo. She picked up a collapsible soccer ball made from synthetic resin and remarked, 'This is very well made.' The princess shook hands with each staff member as they saw her off. 'Thank you very much,' she said in Portuguese. - The Yomiuri Shimbun
The Star
4 days ago
- The Star
Zachary Levi describes facing wrath of Hollywood for supporting Trump
The 'Shazam!' star endorsed Trump in the 2024 presidential election. Photos: Zachary Levi/Instagram, AP Zachary Levi is opening up on navigating the backlash he's faced due to his support of Donald Trump and espousing controversial views on Covid-19 vaccines. The Shazam! star endorsed Trump in the 2024 presidential election after his preferred candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dropped out and joined forces with the MAGA leader. Already courting 'cancellation' because of his vaccine scepticism, he called the move 'career suicide' at the time because 'Hollywood is a very, very liberal town.' In a wide-ranging interview published May 22, Levi revealed that he's since experienced the wrath of Hollywood. 'I know that there are people that would prefer not to work with me now because of my opinions. My team has let me know,' he told Variety executive editor Tatiana Siegel. 'They haven't given me any specific names, but there are people who prefer not to work with me at this time. And it's unfortunate.' The self-described Hollywood pariah – whose credits include Chuck , Thor: Ragnarok and Harold And The Purple Crayon – also revealed that while he may be one of few people in the industry who publicly came forward with their support of Trump, he's not the only one. 'I know it to be true because I've gotten messages from lots of people who I won't name but who were very grateful to me for taking the stand that I took,' Levi said. 'They would tell me, 'I want to do that, but I'm so afraid.' And I would tell them, 'Listen, you're on your journey. I'm on my journey. You've got to keep trusting God. And if you feel compelled to step out in that way, then do it boldly and know that you're going to be OK. "And if you don't feel that conviction yet, then don't. It's all good.'' The 44-year-old Louisiana native, who welcomed his first child with photographer Maggie Keating in April, also shared his true thoughts on Trump himself, saying he's not blind to certain issues. 'I was not a fan of Trump's Trumpiness. I didn't like a lot of these personal things, the ways that he carries himself a lot of the time,' Levi confessed. 'I understand people's aversion. Do I think the whole package is somehow perfect? No. In fact, most people who voted for Donald Trump recognise a lot of the imperfections in all of it. Nobody was saying, 'This is the Orange Messiah.'' – New York Daily News/Tribune News Service
