Japan’s Crown Prince, Crown Princess Fly to Turkey; Celebrating 100 Years of Japan-Turkey Diplomatic Relations

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:10 JST, December 3, 2024

Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko flew to Turkey on a government plane from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on Tuesday morning for an official visit to commemorate the centenary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Turkey.

This is the first time for the Imperial couple to visit Turkey. It is their fourth official visit to a foreign country in the Reiwa era, which began in May 2019, following their trip to Vietnam in September last year.

The crown prince and crown princess briefly exchanged words with the Turkish Ambassador to Japan and others before making a genial bow and boarding their plane around 9:30 a.m. Ahead of their departure, they received a send-off from their second daughter, Princess Kako, at their residence. They waved to each other when the car carrying the couple departed.

After arriving in Turkey, they will make a courtesy call on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the first lady as well as attend the centenary ceremony before returning to Japan on Sunday.