Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako on Friday met evacuees and observed the effects of a powerful earthquake in their first visit to central Japan's Ishikawa Prefecture since the disaster struck on New Year's Day.
The imperial couple's one-day trip to the prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast covered the hard-hit cities of Wajima and Suzu, where more than 200 people lost their lives including those who died of disaster-related causes following the magnitude-7.6 temblor.
After arriving at Noto airport by plane on Friday morning, the emperor and empress took a Self-Defense Forces helicopter to Wajima and later to Suzu, on the tip of the Noto Peninsula.
In Wajima, they bowed their heads in front of the burned rubble where the city's Wajima morning market once stood.
The couple also visited a local evacuation center still hosting around 100 people, where they were seen kneeling down to ask evacuees about their health and lives at the center. They also thanked disaster responders.
The Jan. 1 quake registered the highest level of 7 on Japan's seismic intensity scale in Wajima.
More than 240 people have died in Ishikawa Prefecture as a result of the disaster, data from the prefectural government shows.
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