During the recital of Waka poems at the New Year Poetry Reading His Majesty often thinks about the lives of the people whose poems have been selected, as he listens to the flowing chant, and so composed this poem.
Her Majesty the Empress composed this poem recalling a visit to the Japanese-American Retirement Home in Los Angeles last June. The poem depicts the scene of a group of elderly Japanese-American welcoming Their Majesties, singing the song, "Sakura"
In this poem. His Highness recalls the spontaneous songs of joy arising from the people at the dramatic destrucion of the Berlin wall in November of 1989.
Her Highness remembers in this poem the Islamic call(adhan) to evening prayer which she heard in a desert town during her visit with the Crown Prince to four Middle East countries last November.