Arab News Japan

TOKYO: As nominal head of state, one of the most important duties of the emperor of Japan is to meet other heads of state and promote goodwill among nations.

Emperor Naruhito acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne four years ago but had created a firm foundation in diplomatic relations many years before.

He studied at Oxford University from 1983 to 1986 and during this time was able to visit much of Europe, meeting many other members of royal families along the way, including Queen Elizabeth, Prince Hans-Adam of Liechtenstein, King Carlos of Spain, Norway’s Crown Prince Harald and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.

His marriage to Masako Owada added greatly to his diplomatic credentials. She was the daughter of Hisashi Owada, a senior diplomat and former president of the International Court of Justice. She was also multilingual with abilities in English, Russian, German and French.

As a relatively free spirit while at Oxford, Naruhito could wander through Europe as a fairly anonymous visitor, but assuming the titles of crown prince and then emperor meant his meetings had to have more meaning, and the Middle East seemed to be one of his preferred destinations.

Soon after their marriage, Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako made their first official trip together, visiting Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain. In 1995, they visited Kuwait, the UAE and Jordan, repeating the Jordan trip in 1999 for the funeral of King Hussein. He has met King Abdullah on several occasions.

As emperor, one of his first official visitors was Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia. In the same year, 2019, the imperial couple also met the presidents of Egypt, Djibouti, Togo, Mali, Nigeria, Somalia and South Sudan, among others.

In 2005, Naruhito traveled to Saudi Arabia to pay condolences on the death of King Fahd, visiting the Kingdom again in 2011 and 2012 to offer condolences on the deaths of Crown Prince Sultan and Crown Prince Nayef. In 2015, he traveled to Saudi Arabia to pay condolences on the death of King Abdullah.

In 2022, Japan celebrated 50 years of diplomatic relations with a number of Arab countries, including Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and the UAE, and the close ties between the leaders of these countries and the imperial family has formed a strong connection between them.