両陛下、全国植樹祭に　「復興への努力に敬意」―岩手

　天皇、皇后両陛下は４日午後、岩手県陸前高田市の高田松原津波復興祈念公園で開かれた第７３回全国植樹祭に出席された。式典で天皇陛下は、東日本大震災の犠牲者に哀悼の意を示し、「復興に向けた地域の人々のたゆみない努力と大会関係者の尽力に深く敬意を表します」と述べた。新型コロナウイルスの影響で、両陛下の現地出席は４年ぶり。
　同県での開催は１９７４年以来２回目となった。式典で陛下は、前回会場にもなった「岩手県県民の森」から岩手山に学生時代に登ったことを「懐かしく思い出します」と回顧。同県で古くから木炭や漆の生産が行われ、木が人々の生活に密接に関わっていることを「喜ばしく思います」と述べ、「若い世代に健全な森林を引き継いでいくことは、私たちが果たすべき大切な使命」と語った。
　その後、「奇跡の一本松」の一部が使われ、陛下が皇太子時代の２０１３年に奏でたビオラなどが生演奏される中、植樹が行われた。陛下はカシワやタブノキ、皇后さまはベニヤマボウシなど、両陛下で計６種類の苗木を植え、皇后さまの「お印」のハマナスなど計４種類の種をまいた。（2023/06/04-20:13）

Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako attended on Sunday afternoon the 73rd annual national tree-planting festival, held in the northeastern Japan city of Rikuzentakata, one of many municipalities hit hard by the March 2011 disaster.
   At a ceremony in the festival, the Emperor paid tribute to the victims of the major earthquake and tsunami that struck on March 11, 2011, and said, "I deeply respect the tireless efforts by local people to promote postdisaster reconstruction as well as the contributions by people related to the tree-planting festival."
   The festival took place at Takatamatsubara Memorial Park for Tsunami Disaster in the Iwate Prefecture city.
   The couple took part in the annual event in person for the first time in four years, after being unable to do so due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tree-planting festival is one of the major regional events attended by the Emperor and the Empress.
   Iwate hosted the festival for the second time. Emperor Naruhito noted that he climbed Mount Iwate in the prefecture from "Iwate-ken Kenmin no Mori," a nature-based facility, when he was a student. The facility was used as the venue for the first tree-planting festival in Iwate, held in 1974.