Photo/Illutration Crown Prince Fumihito and his wife, Crown Princess Kiko, after their visit to the Geku, the outer shrine of Ise Jingu shrine, in Ise, Mie Prefecture, on April 21 (Sayuri Ide)

Crown Prince Fumihito and his wife, Crown Princess Kiko, visited the Geku, the outer shrine of Ise Jingu shrine, in Ise, Mie Prefecture, on April 21 to report on his proclamation as first in line to the Chrysanthemum Throne. 

The purpose of the visit was to report on the completion of the rituals called Rikkoshi no Rei, which took place in November 2020, to proclaim Fumihito first in line to succeed his brother, Naruhito, as emperor.

The visit to the Geku to report on his elevation to crown prince has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fumihito, wearing a formal morning coat, and Kiko in a white formal dress visited the Geku, which is dedicated to Toyouke no Omikami, the goddess of food and industry.

They slowly walked along the road leading to the shrine, and offered a “tamagushi” sacred “sakaki” tree branch at the Mizugaki minami gomon gate, before praying at the shrine together.

After this, they visited and prayed at the Naiku, or inner shrine, where the legendary sun goddess Amaterasu-omikami is enshrined.

This was their first visit to the Ise Jingu shrine since April 2018.

They arrived in Ise on April 20 and traveled to Nara Prefecture on the afternoon of April 21 after the visit to the Ise Jingu shrine.

They are scheduled to visit the tomb of Emperor Jinmu in Nara Prefecture on April 22 as part of events connected to Rikkoshi no Rei.

Their itinerary also includes visits to the tombs of Emperor Komei and Emperor Meiji, both in Kyoto Prefecture, in accordance with the couple's wishes.

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