Year-end Presentations of Waka Poems

Year-end Presentation of Five Waka Poems by His Majesty the Emperor

After the Memorial Ceremony for the Tenth Anniversary of Emperor Showa was over.

When,early this year
I went to the Grand Sumo
My father so loved,
Filled with memories of Him
I watched the ring intently.

Receiving the Grand Duke of Luxembourg

When with the Grand Duke
I went to Yamanashi
For a Spring visit,
There close by us gleaming white
Stood Great Mount Fuji soaring.

On our Fortieth Wedding Anniversary

While along with her
Who has shared these forty years,
My well loved Lady,
I go for a morning walk,
The little grebe is calling.

Okushiri Island

After six whole years,
Revisiting that island
Of calamity,
As I come closer I find
An island all over green.

Ten years from my Enthronement

In the gathering dusk
With crowds of people thronging
The Palace Plaza,
I listen along with them
To the glad festive music.

Year-end Presentation of Three Waka Poems by Her Majesty the Empress

The Tenth Anniversary Memorial Ceremony for Emperor Showa

Since that day of grief
Full ten years already gone;
By the August Tomb
The growing trees are thriving;
Their sight moves me to sorrow.

In Memory of the Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki

In this late evening
While cicadas sing their dirge,
Now will be the time
To float the Myriad Lanterns
And mourn at Urakami

Greeting our Fortieth Wedding Anniversary

It was like being
Back at the dim dawn of time
In the Age of Gods -
That day when I Went with You,
Along Ise's Sacred Path.