The Crown Princess made her first public appearance Wednesday since the official announcement the day before of her long-awaited pregnancy, joining the Crown Prince on a morning visit to a shrine dedicated to his grandmother.
On her way to the shrine to the late Empress Dowager at Fukiage Palace, located within the Imperial Palace grounds in central Tokyo, the Crown Princess smiled and bowed slightly to a throng of reporters and photographers at the palace's gate.
The outing marked her first trip out of the Togu Palace since April 18, when she attended a dinner at the Imperial Palace to celebrate the 32nd birthday of the Crown Prince's sister, Princess Nori.