Princess Aiko Travels to Quake-Hit Noto Peninsula; Emperor’s Daughter Makes First Visit to Disaster Area (Update 1)

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:02 JST, May 18, 2025

KANAZAWA — Princess Aiko, the daughter of the Emperor and Empress, arrived at JR Kanazawa Station shortly before noon Sunday to begin her two-day visit to Ishikawa Prefecture to observe reconstruction efforts after the Noto Peninsula Earthquake in January last year.

Upon her arrival by Shinkansen bullet train, the smiling princess waved to the large crowd of people that had gathered to greet her.

According to the Ishikawa prefectural government, about 116,000 houses had been destroyed or damaged as of Tuesday. In Nanao, where about 17,000 houses were affected by the disaster, the princess visited a temporary housing complex on Sunday afternoon and watched as residents participated in exercises to help them stay healthy.

Afterward, Princess Aiko spoke to residents gathered outside the venue, asking them such questions as “How are you finding life [after the quake]?” and saying, “It must have been very difficult with such sudden changes to your daily lives.”

Later Sunday, the princess was scheduled to visit the Wakura hot spring resort in Nanao, where many ryokan inns were forced to suspend their operations due to the earthquake, and to be briefed by inn operators on their reconstruction plans.

The princess also planned to meet with students from Kanazawa University who are helping remove debris and assisting affected people by listening to their concerns.

Princess Aiko was scheduled to visit Shika on Monday, which experienced an earthquake measuring the maximum 7 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale. While there, she was to tour a restaurant and a supermarket among other temporary facilities and observe activities to support and watch over senior citizens.

Princess Aiko was scheduled to return to Tokyo that evening.

The princess’ visit to the Noto Peninsula was initially slated for September but was canceled due to heavy rains shortly before the trip.