Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and their daughter, Princess Aiko, will visit three Tohoku prefectures beginning next month that were hardest hit by the March 11, 2011, Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent tsunami to mark 15 years since the disaster, the Imperial Household Agency said Wednesday.
The family will visit Iwate and Miyagi prefectures from March 25 to 26 and Fukushima Prefecture from April 6 to 7 to inspect progress made in reconstruction efforts and meet with people in areas affected by the disaster. It will be Princess Aiko¡¯s first visit to the three prefectures.
According to the agency, they will fly to Iwate Prefecture on March 25 and lay flowers at Chinkon no Mori, a memorial facility in the town of Otsuchi. They will also visit the city of Ofunato to meet with people affected by the 2011 disaster and a forest fire that broke out in February last year.
The following day, the family will go to Miyagi Prefecture and visit a disaster memorial facility in the town of Minamisanriku. They will offer flowers in the city of Ishinomaki at the Ishinomaki Minamihama Tsunami Memorial Park and speak with disaster victims, then return to Tokyo that evening.
On April 6, they will travel by shinkansen to Fukushima Prefecture to visit the Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster Memorial Museum in the town of Futaba, home to Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings¡¯ tsunami-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. They will lay flowers and meet disaster victims there.
The next day, they will tour a disaster memorial facility in the town of Tomioka and observe classes at Manabiya Yumenomori, an educational facility in the town of Okuma, also home to the nuclear plant. They will also stop at a roadside service area in the town of Namie, then return to Tokyo at night.
At a news conference earlier this month ahead of his birthday on Monday, Emperor Naruhito said he wished to ¡°listen to the voices of people in disaster-hit areas and remain close to the public,¡± adding that he hoped Princess Aiko would also keep disaster victims in her thoughts.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.