Japan's emperor, empress visit park, farm in Ottawa suburbs+

OTTAWA, July 4 Kyodo -
Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko on Saturday visited a park and a
farm in the Ottawa area where they are staying for the first leg of their
15-day visit to Canada and the U.S. state of Hawaii.
The imperial couple toured Gatineau Park, north of the Canadian capital, and
had chats with about a dozen people there, including 65-year-old Michel Legere
who said he talked about his hobby of flower arrangement and was impressed by
Empress Michiko's smile.
They then visited the state-run Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa where
research including on improving crops such as wheat and soybeans is being
conducted, and inspected a greenhouse where corn is being grown.
The emperor and empress are scheduled to stay in Ottawa until Wednesday before
traveling to Toronto, Victoria and Vancouver. They will stop off in Hawaii
before returning to Tokyo on July 17.
==Kyodo