Photo/Illutration Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko board a government plane for an official visit to Turkey on Dec. 3 at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. (Sayuri Ide)

Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko were en route to Turkey to commemorate the 100th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

On the morning of Dec. 3, the couple left Japan on a government plane departing from Haneda Airport.

The two are scheduled to attend a dinner hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Dec. 4.

Fumihito is scheduled to give an address at the 100th anniversary ceremony to be held in Istanbul on Dec. 5.

They will return to Japan on Dec. 8.

This is the first visit to Turkey for either of them.

According to the Tokyo-based Japan-Turkey Society, friendly contact between the two countries dates back to 1887. During the Meiji Era (1868-1912), Prince and Princess Komatsu visited the then-Ottoman Empire.

In 1890, the Ertugrul, an Ottomon frigate, was dispatched to Japan as a token of gratitude for the visit.

However, the goodwill voyage ended in tragedy after the frigate encountered a typhoon and sank off the coast of Wakayama Prefecture on its way home.

More than 500 people died, and the 69 survivors were treated in Japan before returning to Turkey.

Memorial ceremonies are still held in both countries.

Diplomatic relations were temporarily cut off several decades later due to World War II.

However, Prince Mikasa and Princess Yuriko, who passed away in November, visited Turkey after the war. Prince Mikasa, who died in 2016, was the youngest brother of Emperor Hirohito, posthumously known as Emperor Showa.

Since then, three generations of the Mikasa family have deepened exchanges with Turkey.

“The current good relationship (with Turkey) is the accumulation of ‘three-tier diplomacy’ by the imperial family, the government and citizens,” said Yuko Omagari, deputy secretary-general of the Japan-Turkey Society.

In 1999, when a major earthquake hit Turkey and killed about 20,000 people, Japan delivered temporary housing units.

Atsuko Toyama, 85, who was ambassador to Turkey at the time, recalls, “I thought it was important to have a relationship of mutual support even when we were apart.”

When the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami struck in March 2011, the Turkish relief and rescue team that came to Japan provided support for about three weeks, the longest of any foreign relief and rescue team.

“Located at the western and eastern ends of Asia, the two countries have deepened their relationship beyond distance,” Toyama said. “I hope that the imperial visit on the 100th anniversary will further promote mutual understanding between the two countries.”

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