Empress Masako attended the imperial sericulture delivery ceremony on July 23.

The ceremony marks the completion of this year’s silk farming and took place at the Imperial Palace's Momijiyama Imperial Cocoonery.

The traditional sericulture, or raising of silkworms for silk production, has been passed down among Japanese empresses since Empress Dowager Shoken in 1871.

Empress Masako offered the harvested silk thread of three varieties native to Japan (Koishimaru, white cocoons, and yellow cocoons) before the gods and worshipped them.

The production of Koishimaru grew over previous years, and for the first time since 2019, approximately 30 kg of cocoons were presented this year to Ise Jingu (Ise Shrine).

The silk that was produced will be used for the ‘ceremonial relocation’ of the shrine in 2033.

An aide said of the Empress, ‘She seemed deeply moved as well as grateful’.