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Springtime is here, and for royals, that also means it’s garden party season. Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako of Japan hosted their annual spring garden party at the Akasaka Imperial Gardens in Tokyo on Friday, welcoming approximately 1,750 guests, including members of Japan’s 2026 Winter Olympics team, a Nobel laureate, and a baseball legend.
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The imperial family is seen arriving at the garden party.
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The Emperor and Empress greet guests at the Akasaka Imperial Gardens.
The Japanese imperial family hosts garden parties twice a year, once in spring and once in autumn. Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko, Princess Aiko, Princess Kako, Princess Takamado, and Princess Tsuguko also joined the Emperor and Empress on Thursday.
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Princess Aiko, daughter of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, is seen speaking with guests at the party.
Among the notable athletes were figure skating champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, who won silver in the team event and Japan’s first-ever gold medal in pairs figure skating in Milan in February. The two-time world champions also made news when they announced their retirement from competition earlier the same day.
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Japanese figure skaters Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, who won gold in pairs and silver in the team event at the 2026 Winter Olympics, seen at the garden party, dressed in traditional kimono attire.
Also in attendance were snowboarder Kokomo Murase, the first Japanese woman to claim a gold medal in snowboarding after winning the big air competition in Cortina, and Sadaharu Oh, a former player in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league, who holds the world record for career home runs with 868. (By comparison, San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds, who holds the record in Major League Baseball, hit 762 home runs in his career.)
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Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko speak with members of Japan’s Olympic team.
The gathering also included 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate Susumu Kitagawa, a specially appointed professor at Kyoto University, and voice actor Masako Nozawa, known for her roles in several anime series, including the global hit franchise Dragon Ball. Per Japanese news agency NHK World, guests were served grilled mutton from sheep raised at the Imperial Stock Farm and yakitori grilled chicken.
Rachel King (she/her) is a news writer at Town & Country. Before joining T&C, she spent nearly a decade as an editor at Fortune. Her work covering travel and lifestyle has appeared in Forbes, Observer, Robb Report, Cruise Critic, and Cool Hunting, among others. Originally from San Francisco, she lives in New York with her wife, their daughter, and a precocious labradoodle. Follow her on Instagram at @rk.passport.