Japanese softball legend Taeko Utsugi visits Imperial Family at Spring Garden Party

Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako hosted a Spring Garden Party on Tuesday with special guests, including Japanese softball legend Taeko Utsugi. The event, held at the Akasaka Imperial Gardens in Tokyo, gathered around 1,400 guests who had the opportunity to speak with members of the Imperial Family during the ceremony.

A daughter of a senior diplomat,Empress Masako spent her childhood between Japan, Russia and USA, where she excelled as a softball player at Belmont High School in Massachusetts, USA. 

During their conversation, Utsugi mentioned that she is still giving fielding practice, and said she would be honoured to hit some grounders to Her Majesty. “Masako is actually quite good at fielding the ball,” Emperor Naruhito responded, prompting laughter from those around.

Utsugi invited the imperial couple to also attend a softball game sometime soon. “The Tokyo Olympics were truly wonderful, weren’t they?,” Empress Masako added, praising the performance of the women’s softball team, who won the gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

This is not the first time the Imperial Family has expressed their passion for softball. Back in 2018, Her Imperial Highness Princess Hisako of Takamado - Emperor Naruhito's aunt by marriage - attended Japan’s first playoff game of the WBSC Women's Softball World Cup against Puerto Rico at ZOZO Marine Stadium, where she also met WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari. 

She also attended the WBSC U-15 Women's Softball World Cup Opening Ceremony in October 2023, giving a welcome speech to the participating teams.