We congratulate the Emperor and Empress on their golden wedding anniversary. On April 10, 1959, the entire nation celebrated their wedding as TV and radio stations broadcast live the horse-drawn carriage parade carrying the newly-wed couple from the Imperial Palace to their residence.
It was a historic event that narrowed the psychological distance between the people and the Imperial family. People adored the then Crown Princess, referring to her as "Michiko-san." Instead of choosing a spouse from among relatives of the Imperial family or former aristocratic family members, the then Crown Prince chose to marry Miss Michiko Shoda, a commoner albeit from a wealthy family. Their marriage symbolized the birth of a new postwar Japan.
The wedding also marked a new economic era. Many people purchased TV sets in anticipation of the Imperial wedding parade. The number of TV sets sold in 1959 more than doubled from the previous year's 1.2 million sets to 2.9 million sets — a harbinger of the high-economic growth of the 1960s.