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Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko, now on a summer break in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, visited the Ohinata settlement in the highland resort town on Friday.
Since he was crown prince, Akihito has been a frequent visitor to the settlement, which was developed by people who returned to Japan from Manchuria in northeastern China after World War II. The couple, parents of Emperor Naruhito, also visited the settlement last summer.
Holding hands, the emperor emeritus, 90, and the empress emerita, 89, strolled around a cabbage field from which Mount Asama, an active volcano and a symbol of the region, can be seen, while chatting and observing the growth of the vegetables.
“The sky is quite blue, isn’t it,” the empress emerita told her husband, who replied: “Yes, indeed. The cabbages are growing well, aren’t they.”
“You (both) look well,” local farmer Masato Tsuchiya, 89, told the two of them, who responded with nods. Later, Tsuchiya said: “I felt relieved (to see the couple in good shape). I thank them for coming here to pay respect to people who were in Manchuria (during the war).”
The couple will return to Tokyo on Thursday next week. Akihito abdicated at the end of April 2019.