Kagoshima: Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako attended the opening ceremony of the National Sports Festival held at the Shiranami Stadium in the southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima on Saturday.

As the sports festival in Kagoshima was postponed to this year from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Emperor said at the ceremony, “I would like to express my deep respect for the efforts of many people who have made preparations for the sports festival despite various difficulties.”

Ahead of this year’s 70th anniversary of the return of Kagoshima’s Amami Islands to Japan from U.S. rule, the Emperor expressed hope that the sports festival in this very significant year will be fruitful.

The Emperor and the Empress applauded dance performance by local children and young people in the ceremony venue and a celebratory flight by the Air Self-Defense Force’s Blue Impulse aerobatic team.

This is the first visit to Kagoshima in 17 years for the Imperial couple.

On Sunday, they will watch a fencing competition and visit a sweet potato farm in the city of Kanoya before returning to Tokyo in the evening.

JIJI Press