BANGKOK (AP) — Japan’s Emperor Naruhito marked his first anniversary of his enthronement Friday with a prayer at palace shrines for the people’s peace and happiness amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Naruhito, wearing a white surgical mask, greeted well-wishers on the sidewalk from a royal car on the way to the palace for the ritual.
Naruhito, 60, ascended to the Chrysanthemum throne on May 1 last year, the day after his father, Akihito, abdicated.
In Friday’s closed ritual, Naruhito was to change to traditional outfit to pray for the peace and happiness for the people and the gods of Shinto.
Some of his scheduled events, including part of his birthday celebrations in February and a trip to Britain that was supposed to be his first overseas visit as the monarch, have been canceled due to the pandemic.
Naruhito and his wife, Emperor Masako, have been receiving information from coronavirus experts about the latest developments.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday he planned to extend a state of emergency beyond the scheduled end of May 6 because infections are spreading and hospitals are overburdened.
Japan has 14,281 confirmed cases, up 182 from the day before, with 432 deaths, according to the health ministry tally Friday.
In other developments around the Asia-Pacific region:
— FORBIDDEN CITY REOPENS: Beijing’s parks and museums including the ancient Forbidden City reopened to the public after being closed for months by the coronavirus pandemic. The Forbidden City, past home to China’s emperors, is allowing just 5,000 visitors daily, down from 80,000. And parks are allowing people to visit at 30% of the usual capacity. China on Friday reported 12 new cases of the virus, six of them brought from overseas, and no new deaths for the 16th day. It has reported a total of 4,633 deaths from the virus among about 83,000 cases.
— UN CHIEF PRAISES SOUTH KOREA: U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Thursday he hopes many countries will follow the “remarkable example” of South Korea, which he said has been “extremely successful” in addressing the coronavirus pandemic and is planning to tackle climate change in its recovery. As its cases have declined, he said, South Korea has presented plans for “a very ambitious green deal,” including a ban on new coal-fired plants and a reduction of emissions from existing coal-fired plants.
— SKOREA’S CASES REMAIN LOW: South Korea reported nine fresh cases, raising its totals to 10,774 infections and 248 deaths, its Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. Its domestic cases have slowed, and infections linked to overseas travel are dropping as well after border controls were strengthened. The slowing caseload has allowed the government to relax social distancing guidelines as it shifts focus to easing the shock on the economy.
— NINTENDO PARK DELAYED: The company that owns Universal theme parks says the opening of a Nintendo-themed park in Japan will be pushed back a few months due to the coronavirus crisis. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said construction on the Epic Universe theme park in Florida will be delayed in addition to the later opening of Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka.
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This story has been corrected to show that Beijing’s Forbidden City has reopened, not still closed.
