New emperor opens Japan's Diet, now wheelchair accessible

Emperor Naruhito delivered his first opening speech to Japan's Diet on Thursday after recent elections and a renovation at the upper house to improve its accessibility for two new lawmakers who use wheelchairs.

Naruhito rose from a chair decorated with gold and a chrysanthemum emblem and declared to lawmakers from both houses gathered at the upper house assembly hall: "I earnestly hope that the Diet, as it handles various domestic and overseas issues, will sufficiently carry out its responsibility as the highest institution of sovereignty and respond to the people's trust."
"I'm thankful to the upper house for their effort to remove physical obstacles, but there are many other things that have been left undone," Kimura said as she arrived at the upper house entrance, where she was welcomed by dozens of her cheering supporters. "We will tackle those issues at the parliament."
Funago, through an aide who translated his words by tracking his eye movement as they scanned a character matrix on a transparent sheet, said he wants to "live up to expectations of everyone."