It has been 50 years since the Emperor and Empress got married on April 10, 1959. It was a histric event because the then Crown Prince chose to marry Miss Michiko Shoda who is not from the Imperial family. It was the first case. Their marriage symbolized the new image of the Imperial family. They met at the tennis court in Karuizawa (軽井沢) in August 1957. On their wedding day, more than 500,000 people crowded along the road to see the wedding parade, and more than 15,000,000 people watched the parade on TV.
The Imperial couple tried to have an ordinary family life, therefore the couple lived together with their children which was different from the Imperial tradition. The Empress breast-fed her babies (two sons and a daughter), ablolishing the wet-nurse system.
Today they invited the 100 couples who also celebrate their golden wedding anniversaries this year to the Imperial palace.
Emperor is 75 years old and Empress is 74 years old now. We pray that they will be blessed with good health and long lives.
I to pray that they will be blessed. How wonderful to have 50 years together.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think so too.
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