On the occasion of her 83rd birthday Friday, Empress Michiko welcomed the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize this year to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, saying it is "significant" that the world seems to be paying closer attention to the horrors of nuclear weapons.

The Empress also expressed an "immeasurable sense of relief" over her 83-year-old husband Emperor Akihito's expected handover of the Chrysanthemum Throne to Crown Prince Naruhito, which will be the first Imperial abdication in Japan in 200 years.

Referring to the Nobel Prize presented to ICAN, the Empress said in a statement, "I feel it is most significant that, owing to the efforts of the atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki over many long years, the world seems to have finally turned its attention to the inhumanity of nuclear weapons and the horrifying consequences once they are used."