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TOKYO: Emperor Akihito led Japan's New Year celebrations with a rare public appearance at the Imperial Palace, in front of more than 44,000 well-wishers.
"I feel pleased to celebrate the New Year together with you," the 73-year-old monarch told the crowd.
"At the beginning of the year, I wish for the happiness of our nation and peace in the world," he added, as members of his family, including Empress Michiko and Crown Prince Naruhito, lined up along the glassed-in balcony of Chowa-Den (Hall of Lasting Peace).
They smiled and waved to the onlookers who were gathered at the palace's eastern garden, waving small red sun national flags and shouting "Banzai (Long Live)!" in the first of their seven similar appearances during the day.
The palace, which lies inside stone walls and moats in central Tokyo, is opened to the general public only twice a year, the emperor's birthday on December 23 and January 2.
The custom started after World War II when Akihito's father, the late Emperor Hirohito, was reduced from having a divine status to a ceremonial role by the US-inspired constitution.
A total of 44,600 people visited the palace for the three morning sessions under cloudy weather, up more than 8,000 from last year, according to the imperial household police.
Crown Princess Masako, a 43-year-old Harvard-educated former career diplomat, took part only in the morning sessions as she is still suffering from a stress-related disorder, linked to her struggle to adapt to life in the world's oldest monarchy.
Intense pressure on Masako to produce a male heir was lessened last September when Princess Kiko, the wife of the emperor's second son Prince Akishino, gave birth to the first boy for the imperial family since 1965.
Princess Kiko, 40, was to skip two early afternoon appearances as she needed to nurse her newborn son, Prince Hisahito.
Elsewhere in Japan, tens of thousands of people thronged to temples and shrines across the nation to mark the start of 2007.
- AFP/so
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