TOKYO: Japan’s Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko will make an official visit to Vietnam in late September, the Imperial Household Agency said Wednesday.

The couple will attend an event in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Vietnam.

According to the agency, the Crown Prince, who is the younger brother of Emperor Naruhito, and the Crown Princess were invited by the Vietnamese side through the Japanese Embassy there earlier this month.

The couple will stay in Vietnam for around a week, and may meet with Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong.

The upcoming trip will be the couple’s third official visit to a foreign country since the Crown Prince became first in line to the throne.

Previous official visits to Vietnam were paid by the couple in 1999, by Emperor Naruhito in 2009, when he was Crown Prince, and by then Emperor Akihito and then Empress Michiko in 2017.

JIJI Press