Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko on Monday laid flowers at a cenotaph for victims of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Soma, Fukushima Prefecture in northeastern Japan.

It is believed to be their last trip to the region before the 84-year-old emperor's abdication planned for next April 30 due to his age and failing health.

According to the Imperial Household Agency, the empress had a fever of over 38 C due to overstrain before visiting the cenotaph, but performed her duty as scheduled. In the rain, the couple offered white chrysanthemums at the monument commemorating about 200 victims.

The emperor and empress then visited a fisheries facility in the city to observe sorting work for landed fish. Bereaved families of local fire brigade members who died in the 2011 disaster welcomed them to the facility.

"Your son worked very hard to save people's lives," the emperor said to Yoko Abe, 71, whose son Kenichi lost his life while guiding evacuees.

"All of you must have had a tough time after the earthquake, and tried hard," said the empress.

During their three-day trip to Fukushima, which started on Saturday, the couple has met evacuees from the nuclear disaster triggered by the tsunami and attended a national tree-planting festival in Minamisoma city.

The emperor and empress have been concerned about the damage caused by the nuclear disaster in Fukushima. When traveling to Minamisoma and passing through the difficult-to-return zones near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant by car on Sunday, the motorcade carrying the couple slowed down and they gazed in the direction of the plant, according to agency officials.