A buzz of excitement was in the air in South Burnaby Monday afternoon, where about 400 people were gathered, some waiting upwards of two hours to catch a glimpse of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan as they paid a visit to Nikkei Place.

Security was tight, as evidenced by the uniformed and plainclothes police present, as well as numerous sturdy-looking men in black suits.

Two kids wielding Japanese flags climbed a rock in the traditional Japanese garden for a better view. A busload of Japanese media added to the growing pack of reporters, photographers and TV cameramen there to capture the occasion.

Their anticipation grew as RCMP motorcycles leading the motorcade pulled up alongside Southoaks Crescent and a boy in the crowd yelled, "Here they come!"

The words seemed to trigger a flurry of fluttering paper Canadian and Japanese flags.

Several minutes later, as the royal couple began their walk towards the centre, a young boy about preschool age broke protocol and ran up to the kimono-clad Empress Michiko, handing her a couple of Canadian flags, which she bent down and accepted graciously.

They stopped to wave to the appreciative crowd, whose members waved their flags and shouted "konichiwa" ("good afternoon"), much to the amusement of several Japanese media members, apparently impressed by the locals' use of the Japanese language.

This is the first visit of a Japanese emperor to Canada. The 75-year-old Emperor Akihito's only previous visit was to B.C. in 1953, when he was a crown prince on his way to represent Japan at Queen Elizabeth's coronation. He is the son of Hirohito, whose long reign was punctuated by his country's surrender in the Second World War.

Inside Nikkei Place, the royal pair met with community members in the lobby before visiting with about 75 seniors in the cultural centre's hall, most of them residents from the adjacent seniors residences, Nikkei Home and New Sakura-so.

They then visited Gladstone Japanese Language School located in the centre, where a group of young students serenaded them with "Ponyo," the theme song from a popular Japanese movie.

In 1985, Gladstone principal Yoko Murakami led a group of students, including her son Ricky, on a tour of Japan where they were granted an audience with Akihito when he was still a crown prince.

At Nikkei Place, the emperor asked who had been in on that visit and wanted to see old photographs of the occasion, said Ricky Murakami afterwards. He asked the former students to point out their younger selves then called the empress over to show her.

Burnaby Mountain secondary teacher Sachiko Renovich of Vancouver, who was also on that 1985 trip, had a second generation of her family, six-year-old son Thomas Takuma Renovich, meet the emperor and empress. "They were very gracious," she said.

Thomas Renovich and Chika Murakami, Ricky's three-year-old daughter, later took up their posts to present flowers to the couple as they were to exit Nikkei Place.

Doting parents and grandparents choreographed the moment but it was a bit much for Chika, who at one point handed off the bouquet to her grandmother for a few minutes.

"She said the bouquet was too heavy," said her mother, Ryoko Murakami, with a laugh afterwards.

Chika took the flowers back and the two children waited patiently for the royal couple to approach. Emperor Akihito eventually did, stopping in front of the kids, then joined by Empress Michiko.

For several seconds, they looked with amusement at the children, who either didn't know their cue or were stricken with a case of nerves. After much murmured chuckling from the adult crowd, the kids were finally rescued by a Nikkei Place official who facilitated the floral handoff.

Outside, after the royals departed, the energy remained in the dispersing crowd.

Kazumi Hirata had travelled from Coquitlam for the visit, as her seven-year-old daughter Mia was part of the Gladstone student group which performed.

"She was overwhelmed," Hirata said of her daughter's reaction.

"It's a lifetime opportunity to see them, being at the same place," said Hirata, explaining the rarity of seeing the emperor and empress in public, even in Japan. She was impressed at the Burnaby visit, saying "it was really open for everybody."

Kaori Takahashi brought her four-year-old daughter and two-year-old son from their Burnaby home a few blocks away for the visit. She had seen the couple briefly once before in Tokyo and never thought she'd have another chance until Monday.

"The kids are excited, but maybe they don't know [what's going on]," she said with a laugh.

wchow@burnabynewsleader.com