Emperor and empress visit quake-hit Kumamoto Prefecture

Kumamoto – Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako visited Kumamoto Prefecture on Wednesday to comfort people affected by a powerful earthquake that struck the prefecture in late July and to thank those engaged in relief efforts and support activities.

The Imperial couple left Haneda Airport on a special flight in the morning and arrived at Kumamoto Airport around 11:30 a.m. They transferred to a Self-Defense Forces helicopter, which carried the couple to a temporary heliport on a riverbank in the city of Yatsushiro in the afternoon.

Soon after getting off the helicopter, they bowed silently toward areas heavily damaged by the July 28 quake, including Nippon Paper Industries’ Yatsushiro plant, where a chimney collapsed and killed nine people.

According to Kumamoto Gov. Takashi Kimura, who accompanied the couple, the emperor and the empress received explanations aboard the helicopter about the Nippon Paper plant and the Aeon Mall Kumamoto shopping facility in the town of Kashima, where an explosion that occurred shortly after the quake killed seven people.

The couple then visited a facility in Yatsushiro which is used as a shelter. At the facility, which currently accommodates about 80 evacuees, the imperial couple listened to some of them and expressed sympathies for the difficulties they experienced.

The emperor and the empress also visited the town of Hikawa.

According to aides, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako had shown their intentions to console affected people in person as they are saddened by the severe damage from the latest quake, which occurred while reconstruction work following the April 2016 massive earthquakes were still underway.

The July earthquake registered the maximum seismic intensity level of 7 on the Japanese scale in Hikawa and the city of Uki.

The death toll from the quake, including indirectly caused fatalities, has reached 38, according to the Kumamoto Prefectural Government.

As of Tuesday, the number of homes damaged by the quake stood at about 72,000, including some 9,700 that were destroyed or heavily damaged. About 1,400 people were staying in evacuation centers.

Wednesday’s visit marked the imperial couple’s first trip to a disaster-hit area not long after disasters since December 2024, when they visited the city of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, after torrential rains that hit the region in September the same year.