FOCUS: Princess Aiko Resolved to Serve as Bridge between Japan, Laos

Vientiane, Nov. 22 (Jiji Press)–Princess Aiko, daughter of Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, has finished her six-day official visit to Laos from Monday, strengthening her resolve to serve as a “bridge” between the two nations. During her first overseas trip for international goodwill, she explored the Southeast Asian country’s culture and social trends, and the history of cooperation with Japan. She returned home on Saturday. Connecting Japan with Laos This year marks the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Laos, and during her stay in Laos, Princess Aiko received treatment almost equivalent to that for a head of state. In Vientiane, the capital of Laos, on Tuesday, she paid a courtesy call on Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith and attended a banquet hosted by Vice President Pany Yathotou. “I hope that we, from young generations, will be able to serve as a bridge between the two countries and let beautiful flowers bloom,” she said in her first speech abroad. On Thursday, she visited Luang Prabang, the ancient capital of Laos, and said over lunch with a local leader, “I hope I can follow the footsteps of my father and other members of the Imperial Family and play a part as a bridge between Japan and Laos.” According to an aide accompanying her, she prepared her speeches while receiving advice from her father, who visited Laos in 2012, when he was Crown Prince, as well as from her mother. Princess Aiko used the word bridge as a key phrase as she “apparently puts weight on the reciprocal nature of bilateral ties,” the aide said. Laos was the first destination for the Japan International Cooperation Agency’s volunteer dispatch program launched in 1965, while the Southeast Asian nation extended support to Japan after the March 2011 major earthquake and tsunami mainly in the Tohoku northeastern region of the East Asian country. Traditional Clothing The Lao side presented two sets of the country’s traditional garments to Princess Aiko, who wore them during her visits to traditional temples and her meetings with dignitaries in Vientiane and Luang Prabang. “I felt like I was closer to Lao people because I experienced the country’s traditional culture firsthand,” she said of the clothing. The princess also visited the Cope Visitor Center, an education facility in Vientiane on unexploded ordnances from the Vietnam War. At the Lao Friends Hospital for Children in Luang Prabang, which was constructed and is operated by a Japanese nonprofit organization, she interacted with inpatients. Daisuke Sagiya, a 51-year-old JICA expert, met with the princess at the Cope Visitor Center and gave her an explanation about Japan’s support for removing unexploded ordnances. “Building up exchanges will be a force for building genuine peace,” he told her. Princess Aiko asked questions and listened attentively, according to Sagiya. “Princess Aiko has a deep interest in peace,” Sagiya said. “I hope this visit will help people in Japan and elsewhere in the world know the issue of unexploded ordnances (in Laos).” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]