Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako have begun a three-day state visit to the United Kingdom.
They were honored by a guard of honor and ceremonial royal welcome from King Charles III before a lavish banquet at Buckingham Palace, the BBC reported.
It is the first state visit by a Japanese head of state to the UK since 1998 and, unusually for such a trip, comes during an election campaign.
Some typically political elements, such as a visit to Downing Street, were removed in line with neutrality rules, but all the traditional pomp and pageantry was retained.
The emperor and empress, who arrived on Saturday and had unofficial engagements over the weekend, were officially welcomed by Charles and Queen Camilla in central London to the sound of cannon salutes and the national anthems of both countries.
They also met with a host of other dignitaries, including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, whose government has been pushing for closer ties with Japan in recent years.
Naruhito, 64, and Charles, 75, inspected the guard of honor before the royals traveled the short distance to Buckingham Palace by coach for lunch.
The king, who is on his first state visit since being diagnosed with cancer in February, later took his guests to a special exhibition of Japanese-related items from the royal collection.
He showed the emperor a delicately painted scroll from 1855 from Queen Victoria's library showing the coronation of Emperor Go-Mizuno in the 17th century.
Naruhito said "wonderful, wonderful" as he looked at the items on display.
Banquet
The visiting royals then made their way to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey.
The day will end with a lavish state banquet. It will be attended by Sunak and Labor leader Keir Starmer, who is widely expected to win next week's election.
Charles has made a limited return to public duties in recent months after doctors said they were "very encouraged" by his progress.
Princess Anne, the king's sister, was due to attend but is recovering in hospital with concussion and minor injuries after being kicked by a horse.
Her husband, Timothy Lawrence, said today that she was "recovering well".
The trip is the emperor's second official state visit since he ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne in 2019, following a visit to Indonesia last year.
It was originally scheduled to take place in 2020 and would have been the emperor's first overseas visit, but was postponed due to the pandemic.
Charles is hosting his third state visit since becoming king following his mother's death. He has approved the awarding of Nissan chief executive Makoto Uchida an Honorary Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for services to UK-Japan business relations. | BGNES
