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Japanese Emperor Akihito likely to visit Vietnam in March
  • | dtinews.vn, Laodong | January 02, 2017 02:20 PM
Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko are planning to make their first visit to Vietnam in early March, the Mainichi Newspaper said following a source close to the Imperial Household Agency.

Japanese Emperor Akihito

Mainichi cited the source as saying that the trip, aimed at promoting goodwill, is being arranged as the imperial couple has often received invitations from Vietnamese leaders when they visited Japan.

The 83-year-old emperor and the 82-year-old empress are expected to attend public events in Hanoi. The trip could last five days as they will also travel to Hue, central Vietnam, the source said.

It would be the couple's first overseas trip since January 2016 when they travelled to the Philippines to visit the site of one of the fiercest battlefields where Japanese soldiers fought during World War II, according to Mainichi.

Preparations for the visit are underway at a time when a government advisory panel has been studying the feasibility of the emperor's abdication following his unprecedented video message televised nationwide last August in which he expressed concerns that his advanced age could one day prevent him from fulfilling his public duties.

Earlier, at a press meeting on September 14, 2016, spokesperson of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Le Hai Binh, told local media that Vietnam appreciated the possible state visit to Vietnam in spring.

"Vietnam will co-operate with Japan to prepare for the trip which is hoped to tighten the bilateral relationship between the two countries," Binh confirmed

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