Japan’s imperial family hosts a poetry reading with a focus on peace to welcome the new year
By YURI KAGEYAMA
Associated Press
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Empress Masako has expressed her yearning for peace as a mother’s love in her poem, read at an annual celebration of poetry at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. Various works written in the traditional “tanka” style were presented Friday, including those by her husband, Emperor Naruhito. Among the guests wearing suits, kimono and other formalwear were people who had won awards for their own poems. Starting the new year with poetry is part of Japanese culture. The gathering at the palace is believed to have begun in the 13th century.
