Japan's royal family members and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (2nd L) and his wife Akie (L) wave as they send off Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko for their visit to Vietnam and Thailand, at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Tuesday. Royal family members are (R-L) Crown Prince Naruhito, Crown Princess Masako, Prince Akishino, Princess Kiko, Princess Mako, Princess Kako and others.
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inkochi
I just went away and my wife saw me off at Kansai Airport and waved both arms 'Banzai! Banzai!' explaining that it means she is shoe-ing me away and is really overjoyed that she does not need look after me for a few days. The Imperial Family do not have much in common with my wife.
And they are the 'Imperial Family', not 'Royal' - there never were kings in Japan - even though '天王’ (tenno) is literally speaking something about king in or under heaven, or something.
TigersTokyoDome
Fight! Fight for Emperor Abe! Bring back Vietnamese and Thai land for our schools in Osaka. We hate the Ch...
Maria
That's quite a coat, the yellow coat. I wonder who she is.
SenseNotSoCommon
Everyone has been positioned perfectly spaced (dear PM is always perfectly spaced) in a straight line.
Women are (almost) all clutching gloves in left hands, and the plebs are sans chapeau.
Magnifique!
ebisen
OMG, all in a coat and a freaky little hathat. They look like the bank tellers, or some old fashioned department store attendants, when it opens in the morning.
JuliusCaesar
How cute! They look so British!
BertieWooster
I wonder what the "L" stands for.
CH3CHO
inkochiFEB. 28, 2017 - 01:36PM JST
Tenno is written 天皇.
Male female disparity is striking. Prince Hitachi, the younger brother of the Emperor is not there. I wonder if something is wrong with him.
Mlodinow
Do they all go to the airport every time? I recently watched the PM's motorcade on Youtube and it is quite a drama just for his one car. Can't imagine the goings on for him plus the Emperor & his whole family.
ebisen
I'm looking more carefully at the photo, all with the useless gloves either in hand or in the bag, but half sticking out, so that they're visible. Is this some unknown to the hoi-polloi-me manners code?
LOL@ the one in yellow "looking like she permanently has something stinky under her nose"...
plasticmonkey
Being a royal means having to be in servitude to something that is long dead and irrelevant. These people have no choice. Tradition in the cultural sense means being connected to a continuation of something meaningful. Ordinary people can stop participating if they want to. Like matsuri and what not.
One of the odd ironies of modernity. Monarchies are a tradition that has obviously outworn its purpose.
I feel sorry for these Japanese women in 2017 who have to dress like they are in a Ken Loach film.
socrateos
plasticmonkey
What was their purpose?
Jimizo
"One of the odd ironies of modernity. Monarchies are a tradition that has obviously outworn its purpose."
I'm with you. That said, it's been observed that many of the most stable, prosperous, equal and progressive countries are constitutional monarchies ( Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands ). Another interesting observation is that the UK has a monarch at the head of an established church is one of the least religious societies on earth with very little imposition of religion in politics - contrast this with the US.
As I said, I find the idea of a monarch ridiculous but the results are worth considering.
BertieWooster
plasticmonkey,
And in Japan doubly so. If the emperor of Japan really was an emperor, surely he'd be able to quit when he wanted to. The truth is he is emperor in name only. In reality, he is a kind of slave whose every action is dictated, either by Kunaicho or "tradition."
I feel sorry for him. He seems like a genuinely nice guy and a very intelligent person too.
Kobe White Bar Owner
appearance is paramount as ever. Anyone else notice Abe has his hand highest.... dont worry ill run the show.
koiwaicoffee
On the other hand, they will never have to do night shifts in a factory. They will just live like rich people.
We are paying for these silly hats, and I bet they cost a fortune.