This is Hayley's part in a Japanese TV programme celebrating the Golden Wedding Anniversary of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko on April 10 2009. When she was a student, the Empress wrote a poem which was later set to music by Masami Yamamoto in 1966, to mark the celebration of the birth of the Empress's second child, Prince Akishinomiya. This song is Lullaby of Nemunoki (Nemunoki no Komoriuta).

Hayley has released the same song in Japan, on an album (Hayley Sings Japanese Songs 2) and as a single. When the video was made, she was on tour there and visited Seibi Childrens' Home in Tokyo, which is where the video starts... with Hayley singing a short clip from Amazing Grace. The Empress has a special interest in childrens' welfare and so, we can now see the reason for this TV report. Hayley goes on to sing the Empress's very own words, over some excellent archive footage of the Imperial couple's last 50 years of marriage. The video ends with the Imperial couple sitting in tennis clothes and this is because they first met at a tennis court... in 1957!

Many thanks to Maya for recording this very special footage for HWI, from TBS TV in Japan.