TOKYO: A tree planting festival that has been postponed by one year due to the coronavirus crisis was held on Sunday in the western Japan city of Oda, with Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako attending the event remotely from their residence in Tokyo.

The couple’s Akasaka Imperial Residence in the Japanese capital’s Minato Ward and Mount Sanbe in the Shimane Prefecture city, the venue for the 71st National Tree Planting Festival, was linked via video, with the event broadcast on large screens set up at both sites.

Expressing respect and gratitude to people who are working strenuously to contain the coronavirus crisis, Emperor Naruhito said, “Passing precious forests down to future generations in a healthy shape is our critical mission.”

The Emperor also said it was regrettable that he was unable to visit the venue in Oda in person.

For the event, a Japanese black pine tree that was planted at Mount Sanbe by Emperor Hirohito at the 22nd National Tree Planting Festival in 1971 and was taken care of by Emperor Naruhito at the 15th National Tree Care Festival in 1991 when he was Crown Prince was transported to the premises of the Imperial residence.

Emperor Naruhito cut part of a 12-meter-long log from the tree using a saw. Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako then planted young cedar trees and saplings of “yamazakura,” a kind of cherry tree, in wooden boxes that will be sent to the Shimane city at a later date.

Emperor Hirohito is grandfather of the current Emperor and posthumously known as Emperor Showa.

Amid the coronavirus crisis, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako have interacted online with people around the country, including those who survived the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in the Tohoku region of northeastern Japan.

JIJI Press