THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
May 6, 2023 at 18:19 JST
Prince Charles and Princess Diana chat with Prince Naruhito at the Shugakuin Imperial Villa in Kyoto on May 9, 1986. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
The May 6 coronation of King Charles III offered Britain and Japan a chance to mark their historically close postwar ties.
As Prince of Wales, Charles visited Japan many times.
In 1970, he toured the Japan World Exposition held in Osaka Prefecture. He also visited sightseeing spots in Kyoto.
In 1986, he visited Japan with his wife, the late Princess Diana.
Emperor Naruhito was prince at the time and welcomed the couple at the airport. He also took them on a tour of Kyoto.
Naruhito struck up a friendship with the couple when he studied at the University of Oxford for roughly two years from 1983.
Naruhito was treated like a family member by the British royal family, who took him for picnic lunches on occasion. Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip drove him.
In 1990, Charles attended the Ceremony of Accession for Emperor Akihito, now Emperor Emeritus.
In 2008, he visited Japan, but this time with his second wife, Camilla, who was to be crowned Queen Consort on May 6.
In 2019, Charles attended the Ceremony of Accession for Naruhito.
Crown Prince Fumihito, the brother of Emperor Naruhito, and Crown Princess Kiko attended the ceremony on behalf of the imperial family.
Fumihito studied zoological science as a graduate student at Oxford from 1988 to 1990, and met Charles during that period.
He was expected to convey messages of goodwill from Naruhito and Empress Masako, as well as Akihito and Emperor Emerita Michiko.
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