On October 7, 2023, Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako attended the opening ceremony of the National Sports Festival 2023 (Kokutai) at the Shiranami Stadium in the southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima. Kagoshima National Sports Festival was postponed to this year from 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. This became the first visit to Kagoshima in 17 years for the Imperial Couple.