Ceremony held to mark 20th anniv. of emperor's enthronement+

TOKYO, Nov. 12 Kyodo -
A government-sponsored ceremony commemorating the 20th anniversary of the
enthronement of Emperor Akihito was held Thursday in Tokyo at the National
Theatre of Japan.

During the ceremony, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama was among those who
delivered congratulatory addresses. In response, the 75-year-old emperor said
the good wishes he had received from the public at the time of the 1990
enthronement ceremony had served as a support for him and Empress Michiko over
the years.
''On this 20th anniversary of the enthronement, I would like to reflect on all
the good wishes that have been given by many people and consider how I should
fulfill my role,'' he said.
Members of the public signed their names in registers to commemorate the
anniversary at designated points in front of the Imperial Household Agency
building in the Imperial Palace grounds.
Over a hundred people were waiting outside the gates of the palace by the time
they opened at 9:30 a.m., and 9,123 people signed the registers before they
were closed at 4 p.m., according to the Imperial Guards.
''I was still a young bachelor when I saw the wedding of the emperor and
empress, and I remember thinking that I would have to work hard,'' said Koji
Sekino, a 70-year-old Tokyo resident, who came to the palace around 6 a.m. and
was the first person in line to sign his name.
''I signed (the register) thinking that the emperor and the empress, as well as
me, have both worked hard up to this moment. I want the couple to continue to
stay healthy,'' Sekino said.
Emperor Akihito was enthroned Jan. 7, 1989, following the death of his father
Emperor Hirohito, posthumously known as Emperor Showa.
His formal accession ceremony took place on Nov. 12, 1990, at the Imperial
Palace following a period of mourning for Emperor Hirohito.
Around 30,000 people attended another ceremony hosted by business organizations
and a group of lawmakers in the Imperial Palace Plaza later in the day, with
popular vocal and dance group Exile performing a new song written for the
event.
The Metropolitan Police Department set up a task force Thursday to oversee
security in the capital for the commemoration ceremonies and for U.S. President
Barack Obama's scheduled visit on Friday.
A total of 16,000 personnel, including some 5,500 riot police, were deployed in
preparation for possible demonstrations and acts of sabotage by radical groups,
as well as for traffic control duties.
==Kyodo