上皇ご夫妻、開拓地を散策　長野・軽井沢

　長野県軽井沢町で静養中の上皇ご夫妻は２３日、戦後に旧満州（中国東北部）から引き揚げてきた人たちが入植した大日向開拓地を訪れ、散策された。
　同地は皇太子夫妻時代からたびたび足を運んだゆかりの場所で、昨年の静養の際にも訪れた。ご夫妻は浅間山を望むキャベツ畑を手をつないで談笑しながら歩き、生育状況を確認。上皇后さまが「真っ青な空ね」と話すと、上皇さまは「そうね確かに」と応じ、「キャベツがよく育っているね」と話した。
　農家の土屋正人さん（８９）が「ご壮健ですね」と声を掛けると、ご夫妻はうなずいて応えたという。土屋さんは「安心しました」と話し、「満州にいた方々をねぎらうために来てくれるのは、うれしいことです」と語った。
　ご夫妻は２９日まで軽井沢に滞在し、帰京する。（2024/08/23-14:20）

Japan's Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko, now on a summer break in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, central Japan, visited the Ohinata settlement in the highland resort town on Friday.
   Since he was Crown Prince, the Emperor Emeritus has been a frequent visitor to the settlement, which was developed by people who returned to Japan from Manchuria in northeastern China after World War II. The couple, parents of Emperor Naruhito, also visited the settlement in summer last year.
   Holding hands, the Emperor Emeritus, 90, and the Empress Emerita, 89, strolled around a cabbage field from which Mount Asama, an active volcano and a symbol of the region, can be seen, while chatting and observing the growth of the vegetables.
   "The sky is quite blue, isn't it," the Empress Emerita told her husband, who replied: "Yes, indeed. The cabbages are growing well, aren't they."
   "You (both) look well," local farmer Masato Tsuchiya, 89, told the two of them, who responded with nods. Later, Tsuchiya said: "I felt relieved (to see the couple in good shape). I thank them for coming here to pay respect to people who were in Manchuria (during the war)."