Guests of the Prince!

imperial palace


Yes, we were guests of the then Prince Akihito, now an Emperor. Actually it was only Dad and Mom who were invited but poor mary anne who will be left behind. Being the only child, they would want me of course to be with them in this important ocassion so they had to ask permission from the palace.

The photo shown here is the one and only official photo taken by palace media. At 5 years old, I was not really aware of who we were meeting and his importance. All i remembered was we kept circling the palacsince we arrived a few minutes early of the appointment. When I was older, i learned from mom that we could only enter the palace grounds on the exact time of the invitation. We were accompanied by the japanese ambassador only up to the reception area. Only the invited guests can meet with the Prince.

When we got in the 'meeting room', what I remembered was meeting a very fair complexioned slit eyed rosy cheek guy who I felt like pinching because of his seemingly blushing face. I told this to dad so he tried holding me back with all his might otherwise I might just really pinch the Prince.

Dad and Mom presented a painting by Narciso Reyes. I can't recall what they discussed but it was sure an interesting moment in life.