Michiko Shoda as a Child

(R) Michiko in a straw hat, playing with her cousin at Isshiki Beach, Hayama around 1937.
(L) Michiko in a studio portrait taken at her "Shichi-Go-San" ceremony in Nov. 1940.  Shichi-Go-San (七五三, lit. "Seven-Five-Three") is a traditional rite of passage and festival day in Japan for three and seven year-old girls and three and five year-old boys, held annually on November 15.