Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan traveled to Miyagi prefecture yesterday where they began a three-day visit.
The Imperial couple continued their long-time support of leprosy by visiting a national leper house in Tome City. Empress Michiko repeated one of her mini-pillbox hats in white, trimmed with a white and slate blue folded fabric bow. The bow coordinated with the lapel on her suit jacket to create another harmonious ensemble.
Designer: Akio Hirata
Previously Worn: July 14, 2009
Photos from The Imperial Family of Japan and The Asahi Shimbun via Getty
Royal Hats 
Empress Michiko looks lovely in her simple outfits with mini-pillbox hats; however, I’d like to see her take more fashion risks, and unfortunately one of my pet hates is visible hairbands holding hats in place, which we can see here. Why doesn’t she use her hair to hide the hair-bands instead of giving away her hat secrets?
She looks quite beautiful in that hat, while I don’t really like most of her hats(the flat saucers) this is very pretty and I do like the blue bow. She looks very elegant and chic.
I prefer the Empress’s bigger saucers, but this hat is beautifully coordinated with the jacket. Both the shape of the hat and the one-sided lapel indicate that this is indeed the Empress of Japan.
She looks so sweet and elegant. They are such a darling couple. Maybe because we see those hats on her all the time, but they seem to suit her well. They just look like people I’d like to know.