Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and his family greeted throngs of New Year’s well-wishers from a balcony window at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Thursday, chanting “banzai… long live” while waving small paper Japanese flags.

“I feel for those who are still greatly suffering,” Naruhito said, referring to the quake in western Japan that struck a year ago, as well as flooding and other natural disasters throughout the nation. Last year, his appearance was cancelled at the last minute because of a devastating quake in the Noto Peninsula that killed hundreds of people.