The Emperor and Empress participated remotely in an annual event celebrating fisheries and the richness of marine resources, held this year in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture.
They attended the 40th edition of Zenkoku Yutakana Umizukuri Taikai remotely from the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Sunday, due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. In his address, the Emperor looked back on the host prefecture's efforts over the last 10 years to recover from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
"It is truly significant that [the organizers] have overcome the earthquake disaster and held this event. I pay deep respect to the tireless efforts by local people and all the work by the authorities concerned toward reconstruction," the Emperor said.
The Imperial couple watched a parade of fishing boats and the release of juvenile fish at a port in Ishinomaki. They also talked with three people who were affected by the quake.
"You must have suffered terribly after many things were swept away," the Emperor said to Shota Abe, 35, whose fishing boat was damaged by the tsunami after the quake. Abe currently works to train young fishery operators.
"It's wonderful that you are doing this. What are the new operators like?" the Empress asked.
The two-day event is one of the three major regional events that the Imperial couple attend every year, carrying on the tradition of the Emperor Emeritus and Empress Emeritus.
The 2021 event was postponed from last year because of the pandemic.
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