BackEmperor Akihito makes unprecedented address to nation
Emperor Akihito makes unprecedented address to nation
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Tokyo: Japanese Emperor Akihito made an unprecedented televised address to his disaster-stricken nation on Wednesday, saying he was “deeply worried" by the crisis at damaged nuclear reactors and urging people to help each other in difficult times.
Looking sombre and stoic, the 77-year-old Akihito said the problems at Japan’s nuclear-power reactors, where authorities battled to prevent a catastrophe, were unpredictable and that he was “deeply worried" following an earthquake he described as “unprecedented in scale".
TV stations interrupted coverage to carry the emperor’s first public appearance since last week’s massive earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands of people.
“I am deeply hurt by the grievous situation in the affected areas. The number of deceased and missing increases by the day we cannot know how many victims there will be. My hope is that as many people possible are found safe," Akihito said.
“I hope from the bottom of my heart that the people will, hand in hand, treat each other with compassion and overcome these difficult times," he said, urging survivors not to “abandon hope".
Japan is reeling from what Prime Minister Naoto Kan has called its worst crisis since the end of World War II, when the country had to rebuild from its devastating defeat.
The plight of hundreds of thousands left homeless by the quake and tsunami that followed worsened overnight after a cold snap brought snow to some of the worst-stricken areas. The death toll stands at 4,000, but more than 7,000 are listed as missing and the figure is expected to rise.
Akihito said he was “deeply worried" about the situation at the Daiichi nuclear plant in Fukushima, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, where workers were trying to contain the world’s worst nuclear crisis since the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986.
Akihito and Empress Michiko have long played a role comforting the public in tough times, visiting the survivors of the massive quake that killed 6,400 people in the western port of Kobe in 1995.
The Imperial Household Agency, which manages the royals’ affairs, said in a statement on Monday that the royal couple wanted to visit the quake-hit sites but felt that efforts should focus on rescue for now.
Akihito, who ascended the throne after the death of his father Emperor Hirohito in 1989, has striven to draw the imperial family closer to the people in image, if not in fact.
In a sharp break with tradition, he was the first heir to marry a commoner.
He has also spent much of his reign seeking to heal the wounds of a war waged across Asia in his father’s name.
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