Birthday celebrations for Japan’s new emperor have become the latest victim of the coronavirus outbreak. The imperial household agency said Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako would not appear in public to mark his 60th birthday on Sunday due to concerns over the possible spread of the virus among large groups of people. The event regularly attracts tens of thousands of people to the inner grounds of the imperial palace in Tokyo.
Naruhito’s birthday address would have been his first since he ascended the Chrysanthemum throne on 1 May after his father, Akihito, became the first Japanese emperor to abdicate in more than 200 years.
The emperor’s birthday is a rare opportunity for the public to see senior members of the imperial family at the palace. Naruhito and Masako were due to greet well-wishers from a palace balcony three times on Sunday, along with the crown prince and his family.
“We made the decision to cancel the public event at the palace, which is attended every year by many people in close proximity, after considering the risk of the virus spreading,” Kenji Ikeda, the vice grand steward of the agency, said at a press conference, according to the Kyodo news agency. The last time the emperor’s birthday celebration was cancelled was 1996, amid a hostage crisis at the Japanese embassy in Peru.
The agency’s decision to scrap the celebrations comes after Japan’s health minister, Katsunobu Kato, said people should avoid crowds and non-essential gatherings. “We want to ask the public to avoid non-urgent, non-essential gatherings,” Kato said. “We want elderly and those with pre-existing conditions to avoid crowded places.”
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