Japan’s Emperor and Empress on private visit to Thailand
Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko arrived in Bangkok on March 5 afternoon on a private visit from 5 to 6 March 2017.
Later in the evening, the imperial couple proceeded to the Dusit Maha Prasat Throne Hall in the Grand Palace, where they attended funeral chanting for His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej and laid a wreath at the royal urn. The emperor and empress also signed Book of Condolence at the Office of His Majesty’s Principal Private Secretary in the Grand Palace.
The emperor and empress sent a condolence message to His Majesty the King upon the passing of King Bhumibol Adulyadej in October last year and had mourned King Bhumibol’s death for three days, reflecting the tightened, long-standing friendship between the royal families of the two countries.
As the first son of Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako, Prince Akihito was crowned in 1989 when he was 56 years old. The late King Bhumibol Adulyadej visited Japan as guest of Emperor Hirohito in 1963.
The following year, the then Crown Prince Akihito sent a number of fast-breeding ‘Tilapia nilotica’ fish as gifts to His Majesty the King, who re-named it as 'Pla Nil' and bred the fish in palace pond before distributing their fingerlings to communities across the country as a solution to food shortage in rural Thailand.
After his coronation, His Imperial Majesty Emperor Akihito visited Thailand for the first time in 1991 and the second time in 2006 to witness the Sixtieth Anniversary Celebrations of King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s accession to the Throne.
