Japan’s Emperor, Empress to Make Official Visit to Mongolia in July; Couple Scheduled to Attend Naadam

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:11 JST, January 30, 2025

An official visit by the Emperor and the Empress to Mongolia has been arranged for early July, it has been learned.

It will be the couple’s third goodwill visit overseas since their enthronement, following Indonesia in 2023 and the United Kingdom in 2024.

The couple was invited by the Mongolian government, according to sources.

The Emperor and the Empress are scheduled to stay in Mongolia for about a week and attend Naadam, the country’s largest traditional festival. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, and the memorial monument for Japanese nationals who were detained after WWII located on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar is considered a prospective destination for their visit.

After the end of WWII, about 14,000 Japanese people were taken captive by the former Soviet Union for forced labor, with about 2,000 of them dying from hunger and cold.

In 2007, when he was still the Crown Prince, the Emperor visited Mongolia and offered flowers at the monument.

This will be the first visit to Mongolia by the Empress and their first visit while they are on the throne.