Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako arrived in Ishikawa Prefecture in central Japan on Friday for their first visit to meet people affected by the powerful earthquake that struck the area on New Year’s Day.
During the one-day trip to the prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast, the imperial couple will meet evacuees in the hard-hit cities of Wajima and Suzu, and tour the damage caused by the magnitude-7.6 temblor that killed more than 240 people, including those who died of disaster-related causes.
In recent years, the imperial couple had not traveled to an area in the early period of a disaster, with the last time being a trip to Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures in December 2019 in the wake of the destruction brought by Typhoon Hagibis in October of that year.
After arriving at Noto airport by plane on Friday morning, the imperial couple will take a Self-Defense Forces helicopter to travel to Wajima and then to Suzu, on the tip of the Noto Peninsula.
The Jan. 1 quake registered the highest level of 7 on Japan’s seismic intensity scale in Wajima.
More than 200 people in Wajima and Suzu died as a result of the disaster, according to data from the Ishikawa prefectural government.
BY: KYODO
