Japan’s Emperor Naruhito has greeted the public for the first time since his succession, expressing hope for Japan to keep pursuing peace.
Emperor Naruhito ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne on Wednesday, a day after his 85-year-old father, Akihito, abdicated.
From a balcony overlooking the palace ground, Emperor Naruhito on Saturday thanked thousands of well-wishers for congratulating him.
The 59-year-old new emperor is a historian who studied at Oxford. He is the first emperor born after the World War II and one who has studied overseas.
Emperors under Japan’s postwar constitution are given only a symbolic status without political power.