Hi Carol,

Soon after Hirohito's death, one of his personal aides was a guest on the
Larry King radio show, which I listened to at the time. I couldn't resist,
and called in to ask of the disposition of the collection...after a stunned
silence from the aide (for me having that knowlegde), he told me his daughter
was keeping it intact, with the eventual donation to the Tokyo museum in
mind.

As a side note, When Hirohito visited St. Paul, Minnesota (in honor of the
Japanese ice sculptors exhibiting at the Winter Carnival that year), I
managed to meet him,  and give him a series of Triodopsis multilineata I had
collected for his collection! His eyes really lit up!! It was a most
memorable experience!!! Kinda cool having my shells in the Emperor's
collection!!

Ken Zentzis
Wichita, Kansas


Carol Simpson wrote:

> Speaking of Japan (or was it China?) what has become of Emperor Hirahito's
> collection?  Does his son still have it?  Is it in tact?  What does it
> contain--how many shells , etc.