WAJIMA, Ishikawa Pref.: Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako on Friday visited the central Japan prefecture of Ishikawa, hit hard by a magnitude-7.6 earthquake Jan. 1.

During their day trip, the Imperial couple inspected afflicted areas in the prefecture’s Noto Peninsula and met evacuees at shelters.

On Friday morning, they arrived at Noto Airport in the Ishikawa city of Wajima on a special plane from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport.

Upon arrival, the couple were briefed by Ishikawa Governor Hiroshi Hase on the situation in disaster-affected areas. Imperial Household Agency Grand Steward Yasuhiko Nishimura handed Hase consolation money from the couple.

Later, the couple flew to the Air Self-Defense Force’s Wajima subbase by an SDF helicopter and inspected areas near the “Asaichi-dori” morning market street, where a blaze occurred following the quake. They bowed silently before the ruins left by the fire.

They also visited a facility used as a shelter that accommodates 105 people, listened attentively to evacuees and gave them encouraging words.

The two then traveled to a junior high school in the neighboring city of Suzu, where 83 people are living on a temporary basis.

After talking to the evacuees, the couple stopped by at the city’s Iida Port, which was struck by tsunami that occurred shortly after the quake.

They flew back to Tokyo at night.

The trip marked the couple’s second visit to disaster-hit areas since the Emperor’s enthronement in 2019, following their trip in December that year to Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures in northeastern Japan, hit by a typhoon.

The couple were eager to visit Ishikawa early but refrained from doing this as they did not want to put burdens on local people.

The Emperor had said the couple has fond memories of their past trips to the prefecture, dating back to their student days. The Emperor had visited the prefecture more than 10 times, and the Empress accompanied him on some occasions.

The Noto Peninsula quake left 241 people dead in Ishikawa, including 15 who died of indirect causes. The death toll stood at 102 in Wajima and 103 in Suzu.

JIJI Press