Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako hosted a garden party at the Akasaka Imperial Gardens in Tokyo on Thursday, the first such event in four and a half years.
It was the first garden party to be held since the emperor ascended the throne in 2019.
About 1,000 guests attended, including wheelchair tennis star Shingo Kunieda, a 2021 Tokyo Paralympics gold medalist, table tennis player Mima Ito, who won gold at the Tokyo Olympics in the mixed doubles event, speedskater Miho Takagi, a gold medal winner at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, and Akira Yoshino, who was awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
The emperor and empress in face masks greeted the guests with other members of the imperial family, holding umbrellas as it rained.
Emperor Naruhito told Ito that she must have faced many challenges, to which the table tennis star responded that she was able to win the doubles event after improving her skills during the one-year delay of the Tokyo Games.
Takagi was told by Empress Masako that she had a great result at the Winter Games, and replied that she was able to complete races thanks to fans' support.
The emperor lauded Kunieda for his significant contributions to the development of wheelchair tennis and parasports.
"I felt that the efforts I made paid off," Kunieda told reporters after the party.
The garden party is usually held every spring and autumn, with some 2,000 notable figures in their respective fields invited as guests. The event had been called off since autumn 2018 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and ceremonies related to Emperor Naruhito's enthronement.
As precautions against the novel coronavirus, the number of guests was reduced, and attendees were served only nonalcoholic drinks. Past parties included food and alcoholic beverages.