This year’s Spring Garden Party at the Akasaka Imperial Gardens will see the Emperor, Empress, and other imperial family members taking separate routes to greet and chat with guests to prevent overcrowding.  

At the garden party held at the Akasaka Imperial Gardens, other members of the Imperial Family have followed the same route as Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, a practice that has been in place for the past 62 years.  

However, the concentration of people in the same area led to five of the invited guests becoming unwell last year at the Autumn Garden Party due to the heat and having to wait in place for long periods of time.  

For this reason, the Imperial Household Agency announced that, at this year's Spring Garden Party scheduled for April 22, the route taken by the Emperor and Empress, Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko, and other imperial family members will be divided into three directions.  

They will walk around in front of the invited guests separately. 

The agency hopes that they will circulate in front of the invited guests in a dispersed manner.