On Wednesday, June 17, 2015, Their Imperial Majesties Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan visited the Kita-Harao district in Zao, Miyagi, Japan.

The Japanese newspaper, Asahi Shimbun, writes that the community of Kita-Harao “…was developed through the toil of Japanese who left the battle-scarred South Pacific island of Palau after World War II.  [The emperor and empress met with three residents] who were among those who settled [in the district] from Palau at a stone monument commemorating the establishment of the community.”