On 75th birthday, Empress offers sympathy for recession's victims

Empress Michiko, marking her 75th birthday Tuesday, expressed sympathy for people who have lost their jobs and homes due to the economic downturn over the past year.

"Just around this time last year, the global financial crisis occurred and many people have been left in difficult situations here in Japan," the Empress said in a statement released by the Imperial Household Agency.

The people who lost their jobs and homes or had to forgo receiving higher education "are the most serious concerns in this past year" for her, she said.

Usually, the Empress answers written questions from the press corps for her birthday, but this year she released her thoughts on the past year without taking questions as part of efforts by the agency to lighten her duties.

Among some positive events that touched her heart were U.S. President Barack Obama's speech in Prague in which he laid out his vision of a nuclear-free world, and the Nobel Foundation's selection of Obama for its Peace Prize.

The Empress underscored Obama's determination and leadership toward the abolition of nuclear weapons and said: "The horrors of nuclear weapons are not only the magnitude of their destructiveness but also the serious effects of radiation which make the victims suffer long after their exposure.

"I think Japan, as the (only) atomic-bombed country, needs to seek broader and deeper understanding of this in the international community," she said.

On the 20th anniversary this year of Emperor Akihito's enthronement, the Empress said she hopes, together with other members of the Imperial family, that he "will be in good health and various events associated with the commemoration of his enthronement this fall will be carried out without any incident."

The government is planning to hold a ceremony Nov. 12 in the National Theater to celebrate the anniversary.

Because this year also marks the 50th anniversary of her marriage to the Emperor, who will turn 76 in December, she offered her gratitude to people who celebrated the milestone.

"I am happy that many people in Japan celebrated our golden wedding anniversary in April and so did many other people we met in Canada and Hawaii when we visited there in July," she said.