Japan Emperor, Empress Make 1st Visit to Disaster-Hit Tohoku

(Jiji Press) - Japan's Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko made their first visit Wednesday to the Tohoku northeastern region devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
The Imperial couple knelt down and listened to evacuees living at Utatsu junior high school, a makeshift evacuation center that accommodates some 200 people in Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture.
"Children must have been emotionally wrecked," the Emperor told Shinichi Kikuta, a 51-year-old teacher at Isatomae elementary school, expressing concerns about dislocated students including those who lost their parents in the disaster.
Kikuta said, "I will do my best to take care of them." The Emperor replied, "Please hang tough for them."
The school is scheduled to hold a graduation ceremony on Friday and an enrollment ceremony on May 10.
Speaking to Miyoko Chiba, 64, who struggle to find her missing 3-year-old granddaughter, Yu, the Emperor said, "I hope she will be found as early as possible."
With a stretch of rubble before their eyes, the Imperial couple silently bowed to the victims of the disaster both upon their arrival and departure at the elementary school, which is used as a temporary heliport.
The couple later moved to Sendai, the capital city of Miyagi, by helicopter to visit some 270 evacuees staying at a gymnasium.
The Empress received a bouquet of narcissus from an evacuee who picked up the flowers in the morning at her completely destroyed home.
The Emperor and the Empress are slated to visit Kamaishi and Miyako, Iwate Prefecture, on Monday and Fukushima Prefecture on May 11.