The Empress Emerita turned 86 on Tuesday. Amid the spread of the new coronavirus infection, the Empress Emerita lives a calm life with the Emperor Emeritus at their temporary residence in Minato Ward, Tokyo, to which they moved in March, refraining from going outside or inviting guests. The couple currently use the Takanawa Imperial Residence as a temporary home.
A celebratory event for her birthday has been canceled due to the pandemic.
According to the Imperial Household Agency, the Empress Emerita is concerned about the spread of the infection both in Japan and abroad, and worried about the lives of health care workers and the people as a whole, especially those in difficult circumstances.
Having paid attention to the media coverage of the torrential rains in the Kyushu region in July, the Empress Emerita mourned the victims and worried about those hit by the disaster.
She has developed a fever of 37 C or higher in the afternoon almost every day since May for unknown reasons, although the fever goes down the following morning. She is believed to be still recovering from fatigue after moving to the new residence.
Her brain natriuretic peptide levels, measures of cardiac function, are also said to remain higher than usual.
Due to the stiffness in her left hand, apparently associated with hormonal therapy following breast cancer surgery, the Empress Emerita has been unable to play the piano, which she had been looking forward to after moving. But she is taking the situation calmly by saying, according to the agency, that she has simply returned a blessing that she had been given.
In the mornings and evenings, the Empress Emerita and the Emperor Emeritus walk around the garden of the residence and reminisce about their visits within Japan and around the world. In the garden, they take care of plants, including sunflowers and Nippon chrysanthemums, which are related to areas hit hard by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Since their temporary residence is close to Haneda Airport, the couple sometimes look up at the sky when they hear noise overhead to see if they can find a plane bearing an image of Amabie, a yokai supernatural being said to dispel epidemics.
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