Overview
- The agency released the official roster for the Emperor and Empress–hosted spring Garden Party at Akasaka Imperial Garden, listing 1,753 invitees.
- Figure skating pair Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, fresh off Milan–Cortina Olympic gold, are among several Winter Olympic and Paralympic medalists invited.
- Last year’s Nobel chemistry laureate Susumu Kitagawa is on the list, alongside baseball icon Sadaharu Oh, voice actor Masako Nozawa, and designer Junko Koshino.
- Attendees largely come through central ministry recommendations and include Diet members, bureaucrats, and local officials who will meet members of the imperial family.
- To enable more face-to-face greetings, the imperial family will split into two routes, repeating the arrangement used at last autumn’s event.