The Japanese Imperial Family is expected to reopen their New Year’s greeting to the public after two of them had to be held with restrictions, according to some sources.
After health safety measures in the country have started to be lifted in recent weeks, some people say that the Imperial Household Agency, which manages everything that has to do with the public life of members of the Imperial Family, as well as Imperial sites of interest, might also decide to reopen Inui Street to the general public for the traditional week-long autumn event.
If not this year, it is expected that the event will resume in the spring of 2023. The schedule for both events is currently being finalised and is expected to be released soon.
The New Year greeting is a traditional appearance on a balcony of the Imperial Palace by members of the Imperial Family, including the Emperor and Empress. They are there to acknowledge the good wishes being offered to them by the Japanese population.
The Inui Street viewing allows the general public to experience the amazing colours and foliage of autumn and spring within the Imperial Palace walls. The last week of viewings was organised in the fall of 2019.
It has been reported that the Imperial Household Agency is considering this move in order to get the country accustomed to living with the coronavirus, although it is not yet clear how exactly the events will play out.
It is widely speculated that there will still be restrictions, with many agreeing that there will be an implementation of a system to limit entrances, especially for the New Year’s greetings.
The latter event is the one generating the most concerns, seen as though the last time this event was held, in 2020, it attracted almost 70,000 visitors. Although that was the first greeting of the Reiwa era (meaning the new rule of Emperor Naruhito), numbers remain a concern, especially because of the Emperor’s recent health scare and the age of other Imperial Family members.
