| Japan's Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko and royal family members attended the "Kosho-Hajime-no-Gi" (Imperial New Year's Lectures) first lecture of the New year at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. In the first lecture, the head of the International Research Center for Japanese Studies, Kazuhiko Komatsu, explained the Japanese folkloric figures known as yokai, which are supernatural monsters, spirits and demons. |
