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 Hundreds of onlookers lined the avenues near the moat-ringed
palace to snap pictures and wave as Kennedy, 55-year-old daughter of
the late President John F. Kennedy, waved back from inside the
carriage.
In an unusual move, national broadcaster NHK showed Kennedy's
arrival at the Imperial Palace live, following the entourage from
the air once it entered the palace gates.
It is customary for a newly arrived ambassador to meet with Emperor
Akihito to present credentials, and Kennedy was one of several
diplomats who did Tuesday. Others also opted for a carriage, but it
wasn't clear how many.
"Honored to present my credentials to His Majesty the Emperor of
Japan. What a memorable day!" Kennedy tweeted later, sharing a photo
of her alighting from the carriage at the palace's Pine Hall.
The procession was accompanied by palace officials in European-style
ceremonial costumes, including a footman in breeches. Her carriage,
the spokes of its coppery wheels gleaming in the late afternoon
sunshine, was led by a horseman astride a white horse.
Kennedy was appointed ambassador after helping President Barack
Obama's re-election campaign.
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She is the first woman to be U.S. ambassador to Japan, the United
States' fourth-largest trading partner and home to the Navy's 7th
Fleet and 50,000 American troops.
She is due to meet with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe later this week
and to visit Yokota Air Base, an American military facility west of
Tokyo. Friday is the 50th anniversary of her father's assassination.
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Online: https://twitter.com/CarolineKennedy
[Associated
Press; ELAINE KURTENBACH]
Copyright 2013 The Associated
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