|
|
|
The royal treatment |
|
|
|
Written by Delon Shurtz
|
|
Saturday, 20 June 2009 |
As president of the Lethbridge Okinawa Cultural Society, inductee into the Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame and recipient of an honorary degree from the University of Lethbridge, Taka Kinjo is well-versed in ceremony.
But perhaps not like the one he’s going to experience next month during a trip to Vancouver.
Kinjo — that’s Sensei Kinjo to his karate students — has been invited, along with his wife, Mitsue, to Vancouver next month during a visit by their Majesties Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan.
“It is very exciting,” Kinjo says. “I know this is very rare.”
About the only thing that could top the honour of meeting the emperor and empress, is if he could share the happy news with his father who died about four years ago in Japan.
“I wish that he was still alive to hear this.”
The royal couple is touring Canada from July 3-16, and will be in Vancouver and Victoria July 10-14 before flying to Hawaii. Kinjo doesn’t know what the itinerary is for their visit, but he has been invited to a reception in Vancouver July 14, along with other Japanese Canadians and those affiliated with Japanese Canadian-run organizations from the Consulate General of Japan in Vancouver and the Consulate General of Japan in Calgary.
Kinjo was invited because he is president of the Lethbridge Okinawa Cultural Society, said Jeremy Davies, assistant to the Consul in Calgary.
Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko will arrive in Victoria late in the afternoon of July 10 with an entourage of about 110 people, including government officials and reporters.
It's a historic occasion because this is the royal couple’s first official visit to Canada, although the emperor visited Canada briefly half a century ago as a crown prince. The visit is also significant because Akihito is celebrating three special events this year. It’s the 80th year of Japan's diplomatic relations with Canada, the royal couple's 50th wedding anniversary and the 20-year celebration of his accession to the imperial throne.
Akihito is the 125th emperor in a lineage stretching back to the 7th Century BC. His father, Hirohito, ruled Japan during the Second World War and was worshipped as a demigod.
This isn’t the only time Kinjo has met royalty. He was present many years ago during an anniversary celebration for the Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden, which a member of Japan’s royal family also attended. Ironically, that was another rare opportunity that he likely never would have had was he still living in Japan.
“Even if I lived in Japan, I wouldn’t get a chance like this. This is once in a lifetime.”
During his first two years in Canada, Kinjo lived in Bow Island where he was part of a two-year agricultural exchange. He moved to Lethbridge in 1973 and began teaching karate, and he continues to teach from his Taka Karate School in North Lethbridge. He is president of the Canadian Gohakukai Karate-Do Association and received a ninth-degree black belt — the highest in Canada — in 2003.
|
|
Last Updated ( Monday, 10 August 2009 )
|
|
|
|
