The Emperor Emeritus ventured out Thursday for the first time after vacating the Imperial Palace to live in the Takanawa Imperial Residence in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in late March.
He visited the biological laboratory inside the Imperial Palace grounds to continue research on gobies.
Wearing a face mask, the Emperor Emeritus left the Takanawa residence in a car shortly before 10 a.m. and waved from inside the vehicle to people along the road.
Before moving out of the palace, he used to visit the institute up to two or three times a week to do research for a new paper he is writing about gobies, or haze in Japanese.
The Emperor Emeritus had refrained from going out, even for a walk, until Thursday, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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