TOKYO: Japanese Empress Masako on July 10 offered to Gods raw silk made from cocoons of silkworms she raised, to complete the Imperial tradition of sericulture for this year, marking her first such experience.

The Empress performed this in the “Goyosan-Osame-no-Gi” ceremony, held at the Momijiyama Imperial Cocoonery in the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.

The raw silk offered at the ritual was spun from cocoons of Koishimaru silkworms, a pure Japanese variety, according to the Imperial Household Agency. She appeared to be full of emotion after completing her first sericulture since she became Empress in May 2019.

The sericulture at the palace has been conducted by Empresses since the Meiji period.

Empress Masako took charge of the annual Imperial sericulture for the first time, after last year was crammed with events related to Emperor Naruhito’s enthronement. The Empress took care of the silkworms since May, including feeding them with mulberry leaves and moving them to a net used to form cocoons.

This year, fewer officials supported the Empress in the tradition due to the novel coronavirus crisis. However, Empress Masako wore a face mask during the work.

The number of silkworm varieties cultivated this year was reduced to one from the usual four. The amount of raw silk produced from the Koishimaru was almost the same as in normal years, according to the agency.

JIJI Press