Sources: Imperial Couple Likely To Visit Uk In May


Sources: Imperial couple likely to visit UK in May

NHK has learned that arrangements are being made for Japan's Imperial couple to make a state visit to Britain for about a week in early May.

The British royal household announced last month that Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako had accepted an invitation from Queen Elizabeth.

Sources say they will stay at Windsor Castle outside London. They are expected to attend a welcoming ceremony, and a banquet hosted by the Queen.

The sources also say plans are being discussed for the Emperor and Empress to hold talks with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the mayor of London, and visit Oxford University, where they used to study.

It will be the Imperial couple's first overseas visit since the Emperor's enthronement in May last year.

It will also be the Emperor's first official goodwill visit overseas since he traveled to France in 2018, and the Empress' first in 18 years due to her recuperation from an illness.

There have been two state visits to the UK by Japan's Imperial couple -- Emperor Showa and Empress Kojun, in 1971, and Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko, in 1998.