Princess Aiko Visits Ise Shrine Alone

Mar 27, 2024 | News On Japan

MIE, Mar 27, 2024 (News On Japan) - The eldest daughter of Emperor and Empress, Princess Aiko, made her first solo visit to Ise Shrine's Inner Shrine on Tuesday, her first visit since her junior high school days, 10 years ago.

Princess Aiko arrived at Kintetsu Toba Station around 1 PM, where she was greeted by the station master and the governor of Mie Prefecture.

At Toba Station, the crowd cheered enthusiastically for the princess.

A man who recorded the event said, "Even watching the video, she looked truly wonderful."

This was Princess Aiko's first time visiting a region alone. She arrived at Ise Shrine's Outer Shrine around 2:40 PM, where onlookers welcomed her by waving the national flag.

A visitor from Mie Prefecture commented, "She looks stunning, so delicate, it was quite emotional."

After 3 PM, Princess Aiko, in a white long dress and hat, greeted local kindergarten children with a smile and proceeded slowly down the serene pathway of the Outer Shrine to pay her respects.

Later, after 4:30 PM, she visited the Inner Shrine, the central sanctuary of Ise Shrine.

At the entrance to the Inner Shrine, cheers of "Congratulations on your graduation!" were heard.

Facing the main hall, where the ancestral deity of the imperial family, Amaterasu Omikami, is enshrined, she offered a tamagushi, made from a sakaki-tree branch, and bowed deeply.

This visit was to report her graduation from Gakushuin University and her employment at the Japanese Red Cross Society.

Princess Aiko stayed in a hotel in Toba City on Tuesday night and is planning to visit the tomb of Emperor Jimmu, considered the first emperor of Japan, in Nara Prefecture the following afternoon before returning to Tokyo.

Source: FNN

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