TOKYO  –  Japan’s Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and their daughter Princess Aiko visited Fukushima Prefecture on Monday to inspect the recovery efforts since the devastating earthquake and tsunami that triggered a nuclear plant meltdown 15 years ago. The overnight trip includes visits to Futaba and Okuma, the towns that host the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex, as well as other towns located within a 20-kilometer radius of the facility.

On the first day, they are expected to lay flowers at the Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster Memorial Museum, take a tour of an exhibition on the earthquake and nuclear meltdown and later meet with survivors. They will stay at the J-Village sports facility, which was used as a disaster response base. Today (Tuesday), the imperial family are scheduled to travel to Tomioka to view an exhibition of the tsunami’s destruction, observe classes at town-run educational facilities, meet survivors in Okuma, and visit a rest stop in Namie. Initial plans to visit Iwate and Miyagi prefectures from March 25 to 26 were canceled after the couple exhibited signs of a cold.