Japanese princess says goodbye to family

Friday was a particularly emotional day for the Japanese princess Ayako.

The farewell of Princess Ayako, a niece of Emperor Akihito, consisted of two parts. On the one hand there was the physical but very formal farewell- called Choken-no Gi- to the emperor and empress where everyone appeared in gala clothing. The emperor couple sat behind tables with ritual objects and Ayako sat in a bench in front of them, while her mother princess Takamado stood in the background.