Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako hosted an autumn garden party at the Akasaka Imperial Gardens in Tokyo on Tuesday.
The imperial couple and other members of the imperial family were divided into two groups — one consisting of the emperor and the empress, and the other of the remaining imperial family members. They walked along separate routes and engaged with some 1,500 guests, including jockey Yutaka Take and Wajima lacquerware artist Kazuo Yamagishi.
"You have made tremendous efforts for the development of horse racing," the emperor told Take. He also said that he had watched Take's races on television.
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