Crown Prince and Princes Masako made a day trip to Ohfunato City and inquire tsunami victims
[From Ohfunato City-my stricken home town]
– East Japan Great Earthquake & Tsunami Disaster-
Crown Prince Naruhito and his consort Princes Masako made a day trip to Ohfunato City and inquire tsunami victims on August 5. The couple has already made trips to Tokyo, Saitama, and two prefectures in Tohoku region, Miyagi and Fukushima to inquire after the victims.
They took a Self-Defense Force plane at Haneda Air Port and departed before the noon. They flew to Ohfunato City by a helicopter after landing at Hanamaki Air Port in Iwate Prefecture. According to the Imperial Household Agency, the helicopter flew over stricken cities of Kesennuma, Rikuzen-takata, and Ohfunato, and the prince and princess bowed in silence three times. They also deeply bowed in silence at the stricken sites in Ohfunato City.
Then, they went to the temporary housing area at Ginomori to console the people, where about 200 victim citizens are forced to live. The couple communicated with five families in the temporary houses. Princess Masako bent over and encouraged Mr. Kisaburou Hamada (90) in his wheelchair in saying ‘Please good care of you.’
When the prince asked to Mr. Yuji Saitoh (13), 2nd grade student of No.1 Ohfunato Junior High, in saying, ‘How are you going to live in your life?’ He replied to the prince, ‘I would like to accomplish my precious life because I could save my life.’
Mr. Hitoshi Hamada (58) has shared the temporary house with 3 family members. Princess Masako asked him ‘How are you living here?’ He replied to the princess, ‘We are getting along here a day by day’, and appreciated their visiting.
When, a nursery school child said ‘I lost my grandfather and grandmother.’ the prince consoled him in saying ‘It’s too bad! You feel lonely and miss them.’
Princess Masako took Ms. Tomiko Sugawara’s (55) hand and talked to her kindly. ‘How you could survive. You were so hard.’ A middle age lady with weak eyes replied in tear. ‘Every people around me helped saving my life….’
When the couple left the temporary houses, they waved their hands to encourage victim citizens in saying ‘Take good care of you!’
Crown Prince Naruhito
Crown Prince Naruhito (皇太子徳仁親王born 23 February 1960) is the eldest son of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, which makes him the heir apparent to the Chrysanthemum Throne of Japan.
| The Prince pursued and eventually proposed (reportedly twice) to the then 29-year-old Masako Owada, a diplomat in the Japanese Foreign Ministry working under her father Hisashi Owada who is currently a judge on the Inernational Court Justice, former vice minister for foreign affairs and former Japanese ambassador to the United Nations. The Imperial Palace announced their engagement on 19 January 1993.On 9 June 1993, The Crown Prince of Japan and Masako Owada were married at the Imperial Shinto Hall in Tokyo before 800 invited guests and an estimated media audience of 500 million people around the world. Many of Europe’s crowned heads attended. So, too, did most of Europe’s elected heads of state. The couple makes their home at the Togu Palace, on the Akasaka Estate in Minato, Tokyo.Naruhito has one daughter from his marriage: Aiko, Princess Toshi, born 1 December 2001.
＜Reference＞ |
http://mainichi.jp/
http://www.kahoku.co.jp/
http://www.asahi.com/
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/
http://en.wikipedia.org/
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