Imperial Family Album Bonds and Prayers Showa to Heisei Limited Pressing Blu-ray

The definitive collection of Imperial Family Album, Japan's first television program devoted to the imperial household, brings together its continuing record of the Emperor's family from Showa to Heisei. Footage of the wedding of the century and overseas visits from the Showa era returns in vivid color.

Volume one, The Showa Album, covers 1959 to 1989. It introduces the wedding of the Emperor and Empress that captivated Japan, and their activities at home and abroad while they were Crown Prince and Princess. Nostalgic Showa footage also looks back on their warm family life with their three children, their commitment to peace rooted in childhood experiences, their research and their musical interests.

Volume two, The Heisei Album, covers 1989 to 2019. It presents the Emperor and Empress's official duties and activities after the accession: public engagements, court rituals, journeys of remembrance in Japan and overseas, international goodwill visits, visits to disaster-stricken regions, research, rice cultivation and sericulture. Episodes include their children's marriages, the births of their grandchildren and their lives in the years approaching abdication.

Volume three, The Album Revived in Vivid Color, presents Showa-era footage shot on thirty-five-millimeter color film and restored in high definition. It contains The Crown Prince's Wedding of the Century (1959), The Crown Prince and Princess's Journey to Mexico (1964), their Journey to Thailand (1964), and their Journey to South America: Peru, Argentina and Brazil (1967). Michiko's Engagement Announcement Press Conference (1958) is presented uncut in black and white.

A deluxe thirty-two-page photo book is enclosed. Photographs and explanatory text trace the Emperor and Empress from birth and childhood through their marriage and family life, international goodwill tours, accession, memorial journeys and visits to disaster-stricken areas. A chronology follows their lives through the history of the Heisei era. This edition was originally manufactured for a limited period through May 2019. Specifications are subject to change.