Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko on Friday visited Yoron Island in southern Japan, as part of their three-day tour starting the previous day to meet residents of remote islands.

The imperial couple, who stayed overnight on Okinoerabu Island, one of the Amami islets in Kagoshima Prefecture, traveled to Yoron Island by air and observed what is called an "illusory sandbar" in crystal clear water that only appears offshore at low tide.

(Pool photo)

After visiting the sandbar, called Yurigahama, the couple, both 83, plans to watch a local dance performance at a welfare center on the island. They are scheduled to return to Okinoerabu Island later in the day and watch pupils making raw brown sugar there on Saturday.

The three-day trip was arranged reflecting the emperor's desire to visit people on remote islands and listen to their voices prior to his expected abdication within the next few years.

On Yaku Island in Kagoshima, their first stop, the emperor and empress on Thursday met people affected by a 2015 volcanic eruption on the nearby Kuchinoerabu Island. The eruption at one point led the residents of Kuchinoerabu Island to evacuate to Yaku Island.

About 50 islanders from Kuchinoerabu, about half of the island's population, welcomed the two at a town facility on Yaku Island, displaying a banner that reads, "We are hanging tough despite the eruption."

"I am grateful that you are safe," the emperor told them.

The couple later met with five representatives of the volcano-hit island for half an hour. One islander said, "I am so happy they did not forget us. (Their visit) empowers me."

According to the Imperial Household Agency, the emperor and empress had planned to travel to the Amami islands in February 2012, but the trip was postponed due to the emperor's poor health.

The emperor said in a video message issued in August last year that he believes it is necessary for him to have "deep understanding of the people" in order to play his role as a symbol of the unity of the people, and in that regard, he feels that traveling throughout Japan, particularly to remote places and islands, is "important."

In the same public address, the emperor signaled his desire to abdicate, saying he is concerned that age and failing health could one day stop him fulfilling his public duties.

Government sources have said the emperor's abdication will likely take place in March 2019, making it the first such case in just over 200 years.


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