Year-end Presentations of Waka Poems

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

The incident of the takeover of the official residence of Japanese Ambassador in Peru

The gathered peple
Taken captive where they met
In celebration
Of the day that I was born,
Are not yet returned home.

Brazilia

The great Cerrado's
Red-earth land goes on and on
Till the capital
Brazilia comes into view
Through the window of the plane.

In Wakayama Prefecture

At Shirahama
Where we stayed, upon the face
Of the morning sea
Fisherboats are sailing by,
Their flags streaming on the air.

As I was about go home to the Imperial Residence

I left the Palace
Just when the night was falling -
In the Winter sky
The moon and the evening star
Were shining in alignment.

The sighting of wreck of the Tsushima-Maru

Foundered, with lives
Of the young evacuees
Held in her embrace,
The ship has been discovered
Far down in the ocean depths.

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

Now that three years have elapsed since the great earthquake

They looked at us
Through eyes washed with tears
Shining clear and serene
Ah, where and how
Are those people living now?

The oil-spill disaster on Sea of Japan

The spotless seashores
Where the befouled stones were wiped
Free of filth by human hands,
Each and every single one,
I shall remember them long.

Fragrance

From over yonder
- Are the trees come into flower? -
A fragrance wafting
Down this path that runs on to
Our Empress Mother's Palace.