Teruko Shin’s mother had bought the blue floral kimono in Japan for her to wear on her wedding day.
But instead, at the age of 24, Shin donned the formal traditional garb to greet the Japanese emperor-to-be, Akihito, during a stop at a train station in Hamilton, Ont., in 1953.
“He got off the train and came to us and just waved, you know, to say hello,” recalls Shin, a tea ceremony teacher in her 80s. “It was nice. He didn’t say anything. He just smiled and waved his hand.”
via Japan’s royal family.
Tags: Canadian Real Estate, Chrysanthemum Throne, diplomatic relations, Emperor Akihito, Empress Michiko, hamilton, Japan, Japanese, tea ceremony, teacher, Teruko Shin, Tokyo
