The Imperial Household Agency on Thursday released a series of 21 photos of Emperor Naruhito’s family, taken during their recent stay at a farm in Tochigi Prefecture, and seven photos of cats associated with the family.
The set of 21 photos includes those of Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and their daughter, Princess Aiko, traveling on bicycles in the Imperial Stock Farm, digging bamboo shoots and harvesting vegetables. This also includes seven photos taken by the emperor with his own camera, including one showing the empress holding a lamb and another showing the princess interacting with a horse.
The family stayed at the Imperial Farm between May 2 and 7, during the country’s Golden Week.
Meanwhile, some of the seven cat photos feature Mii and Seven, both of whom live with the Emperor’s family. In other photos, taken in May 2010, cats are fed by Princess Aiko, then a third-grade student at Tokyo’s Gakushuin Primary School, after being rescued by the princess around the family’s then-residence in the Minato Ward of Tokyo. capital.
According to an assistant, the family rescued a mother cat and four kittens near the home. The mother cat, named Ningen, which means human, died in May 2016. One of the kittens, named Mii, and Seven, adopted from a shelter, now live with the emperor’s family at the Imperial Palace in the district Chiyoda in Tokyo.
Empress Masako showed some photos of cats to guests invited to an Imperial Garden Party held at the Akasaka Imperial Gardens in Minato Ward in April this year.
The Imperial Household Agency released the 28 photos on Sunday ahead of the 31st wedding anniversary of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako.
Seven, a cat who lives with the emperor’s family | Imperial Household Agency / via Jiji
