Images: Empress Emerita Michiko Turns 90

Newly engaged, Crown Prince Akihito and Shōda Michiko enjoy a game of tennis at the Tokyo Lawn Tennis Club on December 6, 1958. (© Jiji)

Shōda Michiko (at center on left) gives a press conference with her parents after the news breaks of her engagement. (© Jiji)

A commemorative wedding photograph shows Crown Prince Akihito and Crown Princess Michiko standing between his parents Emperor Hirohito (Shōwa) and Empress Nagako (Kōjun). (© Reuters)

Crown Prince Akihito and Crown Princess Michiko’s wedding parade. (© Reuters)

Crown Prince Akihito and Crown Princess Michiko with their two sons at the Karuizawa Prince Hotel, Nagano Prefecture, in August 1966. (© Jiji)

Crown Prince Akihito and Crown Princess Michiko talk to evacuated residents of Izu Ōshima in central Tokyo. (© Jiji)

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko set out from the imperial palace for the enthronement parade in 1990. (© Jiji)

A 1993 commemorative wedding photograph showing Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako standing between Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko. (© Reuters)

Empress Michiko and Emperor Akihito pay their respects at cliffs in Saipan where many Japanese soldiers and civilians jumped to their deaths. (© Jiji)

Empress Michiko holds her grandson Prince Hisahito as the imperial family gathers for a New Year photo in 2009. (© Kurita Kaku/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko at their fiftieth anniversary press conference. (© Reuters)

The imperial couple talk to evacuees in a gymnasium in Miyako, Iwate Prefecture, in May 2011. (© Jiji; pool photo)

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko leave the National Theater of Japan in Tokyo after the holding of the thirtieth anniversary ceremony. (© Jiji)

Emperor Akihito abdicates, with Empress Michiko standing beside him. (© Imperial Household Agency/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

The first imperial family photo taken after the imperial succession shows Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako at center, with Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko seated at left. (© Reuters)