Prince Hisahito visited Ise Shrine, a Shinto shrine complex in the city of Ise, Mie Prefecture, on Monday to report the completion of his coming-of-age ceremony.
Wearing a morning coat, the only son of Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko first visited the Geku outer shrine, before proceeding to the Naiku inner shrine, where Amaterasu Omikami, the ancestral Shinto deity of the imperial family, is enshrined.
At the Naiku, he nervously but steadily walked along the approach to the Shogu main sanctuary passing in front of the Kaguraden hall for ceremonial music. He then worshipped at the gate to the Shoden main divine palace, offering a tamagushi sacred tree branch in prayer.
Later, the prince visited the tomb of Emperor Jinmu, the legendary first emperor of Japan, in the city of Kashihara in Nara Prefecture, and made a tamagushi offering. He is set to return to Tokyo in the evening after the two-day trip to western Japan.
Prince Hisahito, second in line to the throne, underwent his coming-of-age ceremony on Saturday.
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