Japan’s emperor begins official activities on Indonesia visit

Jakarta, June 18 (EFE).- Japan’s Emperor Naruhito visited Sunday the facilities of a high-speed train station, built with Japanese financing, in South Jakarta, in his first official commitment as part of a seven-day visit to Indonesia.

Naruhito, accompanied by Empress Masako, landed Saturday afternoon in Jakarta and began the activities of his first official visit abroad – and second international trip – of the royals since their ascension to the throne in 2019.

In the morning, the emperor visited the MRT Depot rapid transit station, in the southern area of the capital, where he was received by dozens of Japanese citizens waiting to greet him.

In the afternoon, Naruhito was scheduled to visit the Pluit Dam, in northern Jakarta.

The agenda of the Japanese imperial couple in Indonesia also includes a banquet Monday with Indonesian President Joko Widodo as host and various meetings with the Japanese community in the country.

Also on the official agenda of the trip is a visit to the Kalibata cemetery in Jakarta, where the fallen in the Indonesian revolution are buried, and a trip to the city of Yogyakarta to visit the Borobudur Buddhist temple.

The Indonesian tour is the first official visit for the Japanese imperial couple, who received an invitation from Widodo himself to visit the country in August 2019.

At a press conference before his trip, Naruhito said he hopes the trip, marking the 65th anniversary of the establishment of Japan-Indonesia relations, can deepen ties between the two countries based on shared history and past times of “difficult relationships.”

Also, this seven-day tour comes in a year in which Tokyo and the Association of Southeast Asian Countries celebrate the 50th anniversary of their friendly ties, with Indonesia holding the rotating presidency of the multinational organization.

“I would like to deepen relations with Indonesia by looking at history and based on the accumulated contact between the two countries for a long time,” the emperor said in a media appearance Thursday.

“Between both countries there were difficult times, however, from the moment of the country’s independence in 1945, Japan had a relationship that was above all economic with trade and investment,” said Naruhito, speaking about the Japanese imperial occupation of the Dutch East Indies. EFE

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