Crown Princess Masako has said she hopes 2015, the 70th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, will be a chance for people to reflect on and reaffirm the value of peace.
"It will be an opportunity to take to heart the preciousness of peace our country has been enjoying, and renew our aspiration for peace," the Crown Princess said in a statement released by the Imperial Household Agency in advance of her 51st birthday, which fell Tuesday.
2015 will be an "important year" to reflect on the war and the postwar period, she said.