Tokyo: Japan’s Emperor Emeritus Akihito, the father of Emperor Naruhito, turned 90 on Saturday, becoming the first among former emperors on record to reach the age known as “sotsuju” in Japan.

According to the Imperial Household Agency, Emperor Emeritus Akihito is spending quiet days with Empress Emerita Michiko while maintaining his strong desire for peace.

In February, the Emperor Emeritus visited exhibitions about the history of immigrants from the southernmost Japan prefecture of Okinawa and about postcards exchanged between Japanese who were detained in Siberia after World War II and their families

In his conversations with Empress Emerita Michiko, the Emperor Emeritus often talks about Okinawa’s culture and history, his life during and just after the war, and postwar Japanese returnees from former Manchuria, now northeastern China.

He always keeps in mind the situation of areas hit by the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, especially Fukushima Prefecture, which suffered from the tsunami-triggered nuclear accident. On March 11 this year, a dance based on Japanese poems created by Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko was performed during a memorial service at a shrine in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, one of the three prefectures hit hardest by the disaster.

Meanwhile, students at a Japanese school in Brazil, where the Emperor Emeritus and Empress Emerita visited in 1997, send essays to the couple every year. The couple enjoyed reading the essays this year, as well.

The Emperor Emeritus cares a lot about people’s daily lives, often checking the news. He continues taking morning and evening walks, reading out books, researching gobies and practicing the cello. After dinner, he enjoys conversations with chamberlains and playing board games.

He still values Imperial events and warmly watches Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako as well as other Imperial Family members.

The Emperor Emeritus was diagnosed with right heart failure in July last year. His condition has been relatively stable since late last year, although he has a small pleural effusion.

JIJI Press