Emperor Naruhito of Japan is embarking on a weeklong trip to the U.K., combining the pomp and ceremony of a state visit with time to revisit his personal connections to Britain. The visit comes at a time of growing ties between the two nations, with the U.K. seeking to strengthen its influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
Emperor Naruhito of Japan has arrived in the U.K. for a weeklong stay that will combine the glitter and ceremony of a state visit with four days of less formal events that will allow the royal couple to revisit their personal connections to Britain.
The visit comes at a time when the U.K. is seeking to bolster ties with Japan as it aims to be the most influential European nation in the Indo-Pacific region.
Emperor Naruhito's Trip to the U.K.: A Personal and Diplomatic Journey
Naruhito and the Empress Masako, who studied at Oxford a few years after her husband, returned to the U.K. on Saturday for their first overseas visit since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
They were greeted at Stansted Airport by the British Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, and other officials.
Emperor Naruhito's Trip to the U.K.: A Personal and Diplomatic Journey
The trip, originally planned for 2020, was intended to be the emperor's first overseas visit after he ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne in 2019. But it was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. He later attended Queen Elizabeth II's funeral.
The state visit begins Tuesday, when Charles and Queen Camilla will formally welcome the emperor and empress before they take a ceremonial carriage ride to Buckingham Palace. Naruhito will also lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier in Westminster Abbey then return to the palace for a state banquet.
But before the pomp and circumstance begins, Naruhito will visit The Thames Barrier, a series of retractable steel gates that protect London from flooding while allowing ships to continue navigating the river. After the state visit, he and his wife will have time to tour their old colleges at Oxford.
Naruhito has a special affinity for the River Thames, having studied river commerce as a graduate student at the University of Oxford 40 years ago.
In his memoir, "The Thames and I," Naruhito wrote about the novelty of walking through the streets of Oxford without being noticed, of spending hours in the local records office doing his academic research and of having the chance to do his own shopping and other mundane chores that most people take for granted.
And he remembered climbing a hill northeast of the city just to take in the view.
"It was best toward sunset,’’ he wrote. "I can never forget the moment when the silhouettes of the spires of Oxford one by one caught the evening light and seemed to float above the mists. This mystical sight, which has aroused so much admiration, is called Oxford’s dreaming spires.’’
Behind it all there was always the River Thames, which flows southeast from Oxford to London before emptying into the North Sea.
Naruhito began studying river commerce as a boy when Japan’s roads and rivers offered a glimpse of travel and freedom outside the confines of the palace. So when he arrived in Oxford, it was logical to study the Thames.
Looking back at the research papers he wrote 40 years ago, he’s flooded with nostalgia, Naruhito told reporters in Tokyo before returning to Britain.
"The memories of my time with the Thames come back to me,’’ he said. "The list goes on and on, including my hard work in collecting historical materials … the beautiful scenery around me that healed me from my fatigue from research, and the days I jogged along the river.’’
The visit comes at a time of growing ties between the U.K. and Japan. In October 2020, Britain touted an economic partnership with Japan as the first major international trade agreement it had struck since leaving the European Union earlier that year.
"The U.K.-Japan relationship is hugely important. … It’s based on shared common experience. It’s based also on the affinity between our two peoples,’’ said John Nilsson-Wright, the head of the Japan and Koreas program at the Centre for Geopolitics at the University of Cambridge. "Britain and Japan can act as a source of stability and, hopefully, mutual reassurance at a time when political change is so potentially destabilizing."
