Birthday Celebration

Today was another national holiday in Japan.  It seems like there is one every month.  Usually, we just sleep in and lazily enjoy the day, but today we got up before 8am.  Not only did we wake up early, but we actually went and stood in the cold for a few hours.  What could cause us to do such a thing?

A few others joined us this morning

Why, the Emperor's birthday, of course!  December 23 is Emperor Akihito's birthday.  It's one of only two days a year that the public can enter the grounds of the Imperial Palace to hear him speak.  While we weren't thrilled with the idea of huge crowds and cold winds, we figured this was something we should do while here in Japan.  I'm so glad we did!  After getting our bags (and bodies) checked, we proceeded in a very orderly fashion through the palace grounds.  We were there in time for the first appearance of the morning (he would do three in total).  At that point, we just had to wait with everyone else.  At exactly 10:20am, there was an announcement over the loudspeaker, and a scream of excitement from the crowd.  Then it was just a sea of flags as everyone cheered the family's arrival to the screened balcony. 

Everyone waves their flags to honor the Emperor's birthday

At first, it was almost impossible to see anything but flags, but eventually I caught sight of a few very well dressed people waving slowly and smiling at us.  His Majesty is quite a cute little old man!  He was joined with his wife, Empress Michiko, and a few other members of the family.  I expected them to be in traditional clothing, but they were in their Sunday best.

That's him, third from the left!

He gave a very short address.  I recognized the word "tsunami" very early on in his speech.  My interpreter told me that he said he was saddened by all the tragedy that Japan has experienced this year, but he is so honored that all these people came to wish him well on his birthday.  Everyone cheered and waved their flags when he finished.  A few people were REALLY cheering- I was a little surprised by all the calls of "Banzai!"  And just like that it was over, and the family returned to the warmth of their palace. 
We were cold and tired, but it was exhilarating to be there.  We noticed many other languages in the crowd, and we wondered how far all these people may have traveled from.  As we filtered out, there were tour buses everywhere.  It seemed a nice day for all.  It was totally fun, and I'm glad we could be a small part of the celebration.  Happy Birthday!