Den [[23. december]] [[2001]] under sit årlige fødselsdagspressemøde besvarede kejseren en journalists spørgsmål om spændinger mellem Japan og Korea, at han følte et slægtskab med det [[Korea|koreanske folk]] og forklarede videre, at ifølge ''[[Shoku Nihongi]]'' var moderen til [[Kejser Kammu]] (736–806) beslægtet med [[Muryeong af Baekje|Muryeong]] af Korea, [[Baekje|Konge af Baekje]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/epress/epress-01-12.html |title=Press Conference on the Occasion of His Majesty's Birthday |publisher=[[Imperial Household Agency]] |access-date=7. juli 2008 |archive-date=25. maj 2008 |df=dmy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080525113304/http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/epress/epress-01-12.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/interrogation/2016/08/will_the_japanese_akihito_be_allowed_to_abdicate.html |title=What Does the Japanese Emperor Do? And will Japan let him stop doing it? |first=Isaac |last=Chotiner |publisher=Slate |date=8. august 2016 |access-date=15. oktober 2016 |archive-date= 3. oktober 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181003193356/http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/interrogation/2016/08/will_the_japanese_akihito_be_allowed_to_abdicate.html |url-status=live }}</ref> I forbindelse med [[Jordskælvet ved Sendai 2011]] og den efterfølgende [[tsunami]] og [[Fukushima I-ulykkerne]], trådte kejseren frem på japansk tv<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/16/japan.disaster/index.html?hpt=T1#|title=Six days later, Japanese still confronting magnitude of quake crisis|publisher=CNN|date=29. april 2011|access-date=15. oktober 2016|archive-date=28. april 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428095412/http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/16/japan.disaster/index.html?hpt=T1|url-status=live}}</ref> og opfordrede sit folk til ikke at miste håbet og hjælpe hinanden.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/e-okotoba/01/address/tohokujishin-h230316-mov.html|title=Message from His Majesty The Emperor|last=|first=|date=16. marts 2011|website=|publisher=The Imperial Household Agency|access-date=9. august 2016|archive-date=21. maj 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190521040846/http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/e-okotoba/01/address/tohokujishin-h230316-mov.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Kejseren og Kejserinden aflagde også besøg i et midlertidigt genhusningscenter, der husede flygtninge fra katastrofen.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/news_asia/2011-03-31/japanese-Emperor-visits-evacuation-center.html |title=Japanese Emperor visits evacuation center |access-date=15. oktober 2016 |archive-date=14. marts 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314011601/http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/news_asia/2011-03-31/japanese-Emperor-visits-evacuation-center.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Levende_personer Titler Samfund Kultur