Tokyo, Dec 9 (EFE).- Empress Masako of Japan highlighted the need for mutual understanding and respect to resolve the world’s conflicts and achieve peace in a statement on her 60th birthday on Saturday.
Japan’s Crown Princess Masako waves from a glass-enclosed balcony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Sunday 02 January 2005. EPA-EFE FILE/FRANCK ROBICHON
Masako, whose life in the Japanese imperial family has been marked by health problems, also reflected on her role as empress since 2019 and the different experiences she has had in office, and expressed her willingness to “continue walking toward the future.”
“I have deep gratitude to everyone who has taken care of me, starting with my parents, who raised me with love,” the empress said in a statement released by the Imperial Household Agency.
Since she ed the imperial family in 1993 when she married the then crown prince and now emperor, Naruhito, Masako noted that some of the hardest moments that caused her “profound shock and sorrow” were the big earthquake in Kobe (1995) and 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
She also lamented the many lives that wars around the world have ended, particularly those of children, and stressed the importance of “understanding and respecting others through dialogue to build a peaceful world.”
Masako also expressed gratitude for the hospitality and affection he has received from citizens at his official events around the country, and described her trip to Indonesia last June as “a memorable stay filled with valuable experiences” despite her initial reluctance to travel abroad, which she had not done for a long time.
In that sense, the empress continues her process of recovery and her condition continues to “fluctuate,” according to the imperial family’s medical team in another statement.
The doctors caring for her hope that Masako will be given sufficient rest after her increased participation in events both inside and outside Japan this year.
Since 2003, she has been forced to reduce her public schedule due to a condition that the Imperial Household Agency has officially classified as “adjustment disorder,” although experts called it depression and attributed it to excessive pressure and the rigidity of imperial protocol.
Masako acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne in 2019 alongside Emperor Naruhito to inaugurate the Reiwa era.
The empress also referred to the 30th wedding anniversary she celebrated this year with Naruhito, whom she said has “enabled me to see this day,” and also trusted that the couple’s only daughter, Princess Aiko, “spend the remaining years of her university life meaningfully.” EFE
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