Japanese Princess Aiko Returns Home from Official Visit to Laos

Tokyo, Nov. 22 (Jiji Press)–Princess Aiko, daughter of Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, returned home from her official visit to Laos on Saturday. A commercial flight carrying the princess arrived at Narita International Airport in Chiba Prefecture, adjacent to Tokyo, in the morning. In a statement released through the Imperial Household Agency after her first official trip abroad, Princess Aiko said, “I realized that the friendship between Japan and Laos has been fostered and developed through exchanges between people of the two countries.” This year marks the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the East Asian and Southeast Asian nations. During the visit, Princess Aiko paid a courtesy call on Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith and attended a banquet hosted by Vice President Pany Yathotou. In the statement, the princess expressed her gratitude for the hospitality she received in Laos and for the warm welcome from its people. Referring to her visit to the Cope Visitor Center, an education facility in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, on unexploded ordnances from the Vietnam War, she said, “I was impressed by the long-term support provided by the Japanese government and people from the private sector.” “I was very encouraged to learn that the rich exchanges between the two countries are firmly rooted among young generations,” she stated on her visits to a martial arts center and a combined junior and senior high school in the capital. “I sincerely hope for the further development of the friendship and cooperation between Japan and Laos while renewing my intention to follow the footsteps of members of the Imperial Family,” she also said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]