Queen Elizabeth II and Japan
I read on JapanToday.com that the Emperor and Empress are expected to attend Queen Elizabeth's state funeral on September 19th. This will be their first overseas trip since Emperor ascended to the throne in 2019. He was scheduled to visit Britain in 2020, but the trip was postponed due to the pandemic.
Mainichi Shimbun Daily reported that The Emperor does not typically attend funerals in Japan or overseas, though other members of the imperial family do. Close ties between the Japanese and British royals are cited as reasons for this change. The current Emperor's father, who was then Crown Prince Akihito attended the Queen's coronation in 1953. The current emperor (who studied at Oxford University), thanked the Queen for "many considerations she has given me during my studies and visits to the UK".
There is an interesting story (also on JapanToday.com) about Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip's visit to Japan in 1975. It was the Queen's first trip to Japan, but the Prince had been during WWII, but that trip wasn't discussed during the visit. The itinerary was quite full and the royal couple were looking forward to riding on the shinkansen train, which at the time was 140 mph. Due to a transportation strike, they had to fly to Kyoto from Tokyo, but the strike was settled in time for them to take the shinkansen back to Tokyo, seeing Mt. Fuji as they traveled. Here is their trip itinerary:
Another interesting article about the Queen's connections with the Japanese Imperial family is here. (The Japan News)
The Queen will be missed by many in Japan and all over the world.
5 comments:
Pamela: How wonderful that the Emperor and Empress had a relationship with Great Britain, it's amazing how loved the Queen was, she was an amazing Lady.
Thank-you for a wonderful post about the Emperor and Empress.
Catherine
What a fascinating story and that itinerary was beyond insane, isn't it? I adored her. I'll miss her.
Being a queen and especially being The Queen is/was certainly a busy job!
Both the emperor and the empress have studied at Oxford so it must feel right for the to attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
What a busy itinerary! Nice to see the Queen made connections in all parts of the world.
Wow, the royal couple had quite a busy time! I'm glad they got to see Mt Fuji and ride the Shinkanzen though. I bet a train going 140 mph was quite new and exciting 50 years ago!
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