Marking her 78th birthday, recuperation of Emperor following heart
surgery said top priority.
On her 78th birthday Saturday, Empress Michiko assured she is keeping a
close eye on Emperor Akihito's health, following his heart bypass surgery in
February.
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"With regards to maintaining the health of his majesty and myself,
from now on I hope to watch over him with more care than ever," she said
in a statement. In response to written questions from reporters, the Empress
said she feels the Imperial Couple will be "able to continue as before,
without much change."
Recalling the weeks after the Emperor's successful heart bypass
operation, she spoke of her concerns about her husband's recuperation due to
fluid that started accumulating in his chest and his loss of appetite. "At
times, I worried whether his majesty would ever get better, but gradually signs
of improvement began to appear" in the early spring, she said. "It
was with so much relief that we were able to attend the ceremony commemorating
the first anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake."
As well as the government's memorial ceremony in Tokyo on March 11, the
Empress nominated the Imperial Couple's visit to Britain in May to celebrate
Queen Elizabeth II's diamond jubilee as another highlight. "Both the queen
and the Emperor looked so happy when they met at Windsor Castle that, looking
on at their side, I felt deeply happy as well," she said.
The Empress is suffering a degree of discomfort herself from minor
ailments, and sometimes experiences backaches after waking up, according to the
Imperial Household Agency. To ease the pain, she takes regular morning walks
with the Emperor inside the grounds of the Imperial Palace. "Although at
times I feel aches and pains and am beginning to experience some discomfort, I
am somehow learning to manage them and am hoping that I (can) spend the coming
days with his majesty quietly and in peace," the Empress said.
Reflecting on the past year, she voiced concern for disaster victims
whose relatives remain unaccounted for 19 months after the March 11 quake and
tsunami devastated the northeast, as well as for Fukushima Prefecture residents
who have struggled amid the impact of the nuclear catastrophe. She also
expressed her joy at Shinya Yamanaka being jointly awarded this year's Nobel
Prize in physiology or medicine for his work on induced pluripotent stem (iPS)
cells, and described the opening of Tokyo Skytree in May as "one of the
most impressive events" of 2012.
Japan Times
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Japan Times
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