On the 18th, the annual New Year's poetry gathering was held at the Imperial Palace.
The theme of this year's ``Utakai Hajime'' is ``Friends,'' and more than 15,000 tanka poems were submitted from all over the country and overseas.
First, the songs of the 10 selected artists were performed in front of Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress and members of the imperial family in accordance with the traditional ceremony.
Aoi Komiyama (14), the youngest second-year junior high school student in Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture, recalls a classmate she became friends with because she liked the same manga, saying, "My nickname is not bad when my friends call me." I won't let him call me," he wrote.
Then, a song by the Imperial family was performed, and Princess Akiko Mikasa described the time when her friend confided in the pain she was having, saying, The profile of the ”.
Princess Kiko, Princess of Akishino, looked back on the time she was invited by her friend to go out last spring, and thanked her for being able to talk together for the first time in a long time while taking measures against infection, saying, "The spring elm table. Memories of a trip to talk with friends while surrounding the grain of wood."
When Prince Akishino visited various places with his acquaintances from the time he was in high school to more than 10 years ago, and asked various questions to the people he visited, he wrote, It is said that there is no joy in the first hearing.”
The Empress deeply felt that she had spent about half of her life in the Imperial Household, and expressed her gratitude to her friends who had warmly watched over her days until now, saying, "I walked with you in the Imperial Household and watched over me for the rest of my life, my dear friend. Friends."
Finally, His Majesty the Emperor sang a song titled "Students' Smiles of the Joy of Playing Musical Instruments with Friends in the Covid-19 Crisis".
The Emperor talked online with high school students of the brass band club at the National Cultural Festival held in Wakayama Prefecture two years ago, and continued to play instruments while being creative and ingenious even in the corona crisis, and talked about the joy of being able to play with friends. I was happy and hoped that my daily life would return soon.
The theme of next year's Utakai is "Wa", and it could be an idiom like "peace" or "harmony".
Entries will be accepted from January 18th to September 30th.