Japan's imperial family hosts a poetry reading with a focus on peace to welcome the new year
Japanese Empress Masako has expressed her yearning for peace as a mother’s love in her poem, read at an annual celebration of poetry at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A mother's love and a yearning for peace flowed from Japanese Empress Masako's poem, read Friday at an annual celebration of poetry at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.
The poem sings of how Masako was touched by what her daughter, Princess Aiko, wrote after her school trip to the southern Japanese city of Hiroshima, which was devastated by an atomic bomb in the closing days of World War II.
Starting the new year with poetry is part of Japanese culture. The gathering at the palace is believed to have begun in the 13th century, according to the Imperial Household Agency.
Among the guests wearing suits, kimono and other formalwear were people who had won awards for their own poems.
Various works written in traditional “waka” style were presented Friday, solemnly read aloud in a sing-song way, like a chant, as the imperial family watched. Waka — literally meaning Japanese-style song — is short-form poetry that usually follows a 5-7-5-7-7 syllable format.
Aiko’s poem depicted her fascination with the waka form, which she has studied at Gakushuin University. She marveled at how the art has survived a thousand years, which she imagined to include deep human suffering.
Emperor Naruhito's poem affirmed the idea of peace by describing seeing the smiles of all the people during his travels throughout Japan.
Naruhito — grandson of the wartime emperor Hirohito — and his family are fairly popular, greeted by waving crowds wherever they go. The emperor does not have political power, but he carries symbolic significance for Japan. Naruhito’s father, Akihito, abdicated in 2019. The move is rare for a Japanese emperor, whose reign typically ends upon death.
The official translation of Masako’s poem reads: “How moved I was to read / My daughter’s deep feelings for peace / After her first visit / To Hiroshima.”
___
Yuri Kageyama is on X: https://twitter.com/yurikageyama