Update | Britain's Prince William dresses up as a samurai warrior during his tour of Japan
Heir to British throne dons feudal costume and is serenaded by geisha
Britain's Prince William donned the trappings of feudal nobility in Japan yesterday, wearing the helmet and clothes of an ancient samurai during a tour of a television studio.
The second-in-line to the British throne asked for a sword to complete the outfit, and grinned as he posed for pictures dressed as a warrior from yesteryear.
William, whose own military career saw him at the controls of a helicopter, asked: "How does it look?"
"It really suits you," came the reply.
The dressing-up session took place at the main studios of Japan's national broadcaster NHK, on the set of one of its popular long-running period dramas. Earlier, he had been treated to a geisha show in which the ornately-attired women performed dances with fans and then sang traditional songs as they played the .
William, who has left his pregnant wife, Kate, at home, tried his hand strumming the instrument, whose mastery remains a key skill for geisha.
The British prince was presented with flowers by popular actress Mao Inoue.
William later toured the newsroom at NHK, one of the world's biggest broadcasters, and was told how the corporation had covered the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster that struck Japan in 2011.
Later, William travelled to an indoor playground for children in Fukushima prefecture's Motomiya city.
Motomiya is far enough from the crippled plant not to be made an evacuation zone after the nuclear accident, but the city has created the indoor facility for local children who have been encouraged not to play outside due to radiation fears.
The prince, accompanied by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, was greeted by flag-waving small children and invited into the facility.
Toddlers there at first looked a bit puzzled by the royal visitor but soon started playing with the smiling prince.
William was to stay at a traditional inn in Fukushima, where Abe was expected to host a dinner.
Earlier in the day, a beaming William, 32, met well-wishers at a bookstore bestrewn with Union Jacks in Tokyo, where he launched an exhibition showcasing British industry.
"We were really close to him," said engineer Takeshi Miyagake, who had gone to meet the Duke of Cambridge at the bookshop.
A close look at tsunami disaster
On the last leg of his four-day visit to Japan, William laid a bouquet near a shrine gate that overlooks the bay to commemorate the victims. Of the nearly 19,000 people who died in the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, nearly 3,300 were residents of the coastal town of Ishinomaki. About 22,000 lost their homes.
The tragedy of Ishinomaki has been repeated across the shoreline, where communities are still trying to rebuild, mourning lost lives and worried about the future, as the younger generation leaves in droves. Thousands of people are still living in temporary housing and many are dependent on aid for food and clothing.
Teruko Sekiguchi, a 42-year-old housewife and Ishinomaki resident, waited for the prince’s arrival on top of the hill in the cold rain for more than hour. She was touched he would come all the way out to the disaster region.
“He is gorgeous. You can feel his kindness,” she said.
When the tsunami hit, Sekiguchi fled to a nearby junior high school and waited for a week, feeling miserable, not even knowing whether her husband, a schoolteacher, had survived. When he finally came to find her, she was so overjoyed she just cried and couldn’t even walk toward him, she recalled.
Although the area below the hill, previously filled with small homes, has been cleaned of debris, no one will live there again. Plans are still being studied to turn it into a park.
“It’s like the area has been finally cleaned up enough into a white canvas so we can start painting on it,” said Kimio Abe, who heads his own company installing heating and air conditioning.
Abe was also among the crowd of about 80 people waiting on hilltop for the prince. Abe’s home, near the hill, was also half destroyed by the tsunami, but he fixed it up and still lives in one room with his wife.
Earlier in the day, William visited a local newspaper, which had produced handwritten newsletters right after the tsunami to keep communication going.
Akemi Solloway, founder of the London-based Aid for Japan, which supports tsunami orphans, said William’s visit will not only provide a morale boost for the residents, but also reassurance that their plight has not been forgotten and renewed international awareness of their daily struggles.
William returned by bullet train to Tokyo and later Sunday left on a visit to Beijing.
