Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko concluded their visit to Fukushima and Miyagi Prefectures last Friday with a visit to Tohoku University where they continued to look at reconstruction initiatives carried out since the great earthquake and tsunami which devastated the area in 2011. For this engagement, the Empress repeated a small saucer hat in the same black and white mini-check as her suit. The first time we saw this hat, the blocked bow was adorned with small blossoms which were removed for this outing. The result is a more streamlined hat that I think works better with the graphic bow- what do you think?
Designer: unknown
Previously Worn: January 19, 2015
Photo from Getty as indicated
Royal Hats 
I THINK THE EMPRESS IS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMEN IN THE WORLD!
I like both the hats. I prefer this one with its cleaner lines. The Empress is constrained in what she can wear because of the Imperial Household Agency rules, and also the fact that she suffers headaches, and can no longer even wear a tiara.
Lovely lady and gentleman….Always dressed beautifully.
I wonder whose idea it was to remove the small blossoms. Since there really was no need for the blossoms, I suppose the hat is fine without them, and whole outfit does look more streamlined. But the Empress’s appearance is always rather streamlined.
She is just exquisite.
That was my exact thought: exquisite!
I like the idea of adding a little greenery to liven this hat up, but I agree that without it everything is much more streamlined. While this is nothing out of the ordinary for the Empress, she is still very chic and continues to be consistently one of the best dressed royals in the world in my opinion.
Improved an already lovely hat and costume by removing the blossoms.