Japan's Emperor, Family Visit Fukushima 15 Years On

Futaba, Fukushima Pref., April 6 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and their daughter, Princess Aiko, started a two-day visit to Fukushima Prefecture on Monday to inspect reconstruction efforts following the March 2011 powerful earthquake and tsunami, and the subsequent severe nuclear accident.

After arriving at Fukushima Station by Shinkansen bullet train, the family received a briefing on the progress in reconstruction work from Fukushima Governor Masao Uchibori at the prefectural government office in the city of Fukushima, the capital of the northeastern Japan prefecture.

The family then visited the Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster Memorial Museum in the town of Futaba, one of the two municipalities that host Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the site of the nuclear accident.

They placed white bouquets on a flower stand in the museum and prayed toward the sea to mourn those who lost their lives in the earthquake and tsunami.

Princess Aiko expressed surprise after being told that the tsunami had flooded the area to a height of 4 meters.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]