List of Overseas Visits by the Emperor, Empress and Imperial Family (1999 – 2008)

1999

Date Name Country Comments
February 8 – February 9 Their Imperial Highnesses the Crown Prince and Crown Princess Jordan Visit to attend the funeral of His Majesty King Hussein of Jordan
March 17 – March 30 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Hitachi Greece,
Monaco		 Visit promoting international goodwill to celebrate a century of good relations between Japan and Greece, at the invitation of Greece
Visit to promote international goodwill at the invitation of Monaco
(Stopover in Germany and France)
May 26 – June 9 Her Imperial Highness Princess Sayako Peru,
Bolivia		 Visits to attend events celebrating a century of Japanese emigration to Peru and to Bolivia, at the invitation of Peru and Bolivia
(Stopover in the United States)
June 1 – June 4 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Tomohito of Mikasa Australia Visit to attend charity events for medical research institutions
June 2 – June 6 His Imperial Highness Prince Katsura Australia Visit to attend charity events for medical research institutions
June 4 – June 14 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Hitachi United States,
Canada		 Visits to attend events related to the Praemium Imperiale in the United States and observe the state of overseas nations
June 24 – July 2 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Takamado United States,
Paraguay		 Visits to observe the FIFA Women's World Cup 1999 in the United States, and the 1999 Copa America in Paraguay
June 27 – July 8 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Akishino Vietnam,
Laos,
Thailand		 Visits to promote international goodwill at the invitation of Vietnam, Laos and Thailand
July 5 – July 14 His Imperial Highness Prince Katsura New Zealand Visit to observe the second New Zealand – Japan international goodwill youth soccer tournament
July 20 – July 29 Her Imperial Highness Princess Tsuguko United Kingdom Travel (While in her second year at Gakushuin Girls' Junior High School)
July 25 - July 26 His Imperial Highness Prince Takamado Morocco Visit to attend the funeral of His Majesty King Hassan II of Morocco
August 13 - August 19 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Takamado Canada Visit to attend the opening ceremony of International Conference on Multimedia Modeling
September 12 – September 20 Her Imperial Highness Princess Sayako United States (Hawaii) Visit to attend the celebration of 40th anniversary of the Crown Prince Scholarship Foundation, at the invitation of the United States
Visit to attend the completion ceremony of the optical-infrared Subaru Telescope of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
September 26 - September 29 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Akishino Germany Visit to attend the opening ceremony of the Year of Japan in Germany, at the invitation of Germany
December 3 – December 7 Their Imperial Highnesses the Crown Prince and Crown Princess Belgium Visit to attend the wedding ceremony of His Royal Highness Prince Philippe of Belgium at the invitation of Belgium
December 3 – December 21 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Takamado Zambia,
Kenya,
Tanzania		 Visits to promote international goodwill at the invitation of Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania
(Stopover in the United Kingdom)

2000

Date Name Country Comments
May 20 – June 1 Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress The Netherlands,
Sweden		 Visits to promote international goodwill at the invitation of the Netherlands and Sweden
(Stopovers in Switzerland and Finland)
May 27 – June 8 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Takamado Egypt,
Morocco		 Visits to promote international goodwill at the invitation of Egypt and Morocco
July 28 – August 8 Her Imperial Highness Princess Tsuguko United States Travel (While in her third year at Gakushuin Girls' Junior High School)
September 6 - September 14 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Hitachi Malaysia,
Singapore		 Visits to promote international goodwill at the invitation of Malaysia and Singapore
October 4 – October 16 Her Imperial Highness Princess Sayako Slovakia,
Slovenia,
Ireland		 Visits to promote international goodwill at the invitation of Slovakia, Slovenia and Ireland

2001

Date Name Country Comments
April 17 – April 27 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Hitachi Panama Visit to promote international goodwill at the invitation of Panama
(Stopover in the United States)
May 17 – May 20 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Akishino The Netherlands Visit to attend the wedding ceremony of His Royal Highness Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands, at the invitation of the Netherlands
May 18 - May 25 His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince United Kingdom Visit to attend the opening event of Japan 2001 at the invitation of the United Kingdom
June 21 – June 28 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Akishino Cambodia Visit to promote international goodwill at the invitation of Cambodia
July 15 – July 22 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Takamado United States (Hawaii) Visit to attend commemorative events related to the tea ceremony
August 2 – August 5 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Akishino Thailand Visit to for conferment of honorary fellowships from Srinakarinwirot University and Chulalongkorn University
August 5 - August 16 His Imperial Highness Prince Akishino Laos Visit for research on ornithology
September 1 – August 17, 2002 Her Imperial Highness Princess Akiko United Kingdom,
Switzerland,
Norway,
Czech Republic,
Greece		 Overseas study (Merton College, Oxford University, England)
(While in her second year in the Faculty of Letters, Gakushuin University)

2002

Date Name Country Comments
January 30 – February 4 His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince The Netherlands Visit to attend the wedding ceremony of His Royal Highness Willem-Alexander Prince of Orange, at the invitation of the Netherlands
May 29 – June 3 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Takamado Korea Visit to attend the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup at the invitation of Korea
June 19 – June 28 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Akishino Mongolia Visit to promote international goodwill at the invitation of Mongolia
July 6 – July 20 Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress Poland,
Hungary		 Visits to promote international goodwill at the invitation of Poland and Hungary
(Stopovers in the Czech Republic and Austria)
August 8 – August 21 Her Imperial Highness Princess Noriko United Kingdom Travel (While in her second year at Gakushuin Girls' Junior High School)
September 28 – October 3 Her Majesty the Empress Switzerland Visit to attend as honorary patron of the Jubilee Congress of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) at the request of that organization and the government of Basel, Switzerland
October 1 – October 11 His Imperial Highness Prince Tomohito of Mikasa Turkey Visit to observe archeological monuments
October 6 – October 18 Her Imperial Highness Princess Sayako Romania,
Croatia		 Visit promoting international goodwill to celebrate a century of relations between Japan and Romania, at the invitation of Romania
Visit to promote international goodwill at the invitation of Croatia
(Stopover in Italy)
October 14 – October 17 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Akishino The Netherlands Visit to attend the funeral of His Royal Highness Prince Claus of the Netherlands
December 11 – December 19 Their Imperial Highnesses the Crown Prince and Crown Princess New Zealand,
Australia		 Visits to promote international goodwill at the invitation of New Zealand and Australia

2003

Date Name Country Comments
April 2 – April 7 His Imperial Highness Prince Tomohito of Mikasa,
Her Imperial Highness Princess Akiko		 Norway Visit to attend the 40th Anniversary of Ridderrennet, World Cross Country Ski Championships for the Visually Disabled, at the invitation of Norway
June 18 – June 29 His Imperial Highness Prince Tomohito of Mikasa,
Her Imperial Highness Princess Akiko		 Turkey Visit to observe archeological monuments
June 26 – July 3 Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado Ireland,
United Kingdom		 Visit to attend events related to the 2003 11th Summer Special Olympics in Ireland
Visit to attend a memorial event in honor of His Imperial Highness Prince Takamado by the Japan Society in the United Kingdom
June 29 – July 9 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Hitachi France,
Italy		 Visits to attend events related to the Praemium Imperiale in Italy and observe the state of overseas nations
July 13 – July 26 Her Imperial Highness Princess Tomohito of Mikasa United Kingdom Visit to attend events related to the World Rose Convention and observe the state of overseas nations
July 21 – August 4 Her Imperial Highness Princess Akiko United Kingdom Travel (While in her fourth year in the Faculty of Letters, Gakushuin University)
August 7 – August 21 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Akishino,
Her Imperial Highness Princess Mako,
Her Imperial Highness Princess Kako		 Thailand Visit to express a congratulatory message to Her Majesty Queen Sirikit on her 72nd birthday
Visit for conferment of an honorary fellowship from Ubon Ratchathani University, and for joint research on poultry
September 27 – October 7 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Akishino Fiji Islands,
Tonga,
Samoa		 Visits to promote international goodwill at the invitation of Fiji Islands, Tonga and Samoa
(Stopover in New Zealand)
October 1 – October 12 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Tomohito of Mikasa Turkey Visit to observe archeological monuments
November 14 – November 28 Her Imperial Highness Princess Sayako Uruguay,
Honduras		 Visits to promote international goodwill at the invitation of Uruguay and Honduras
(Stopovers in France, Argentina and the United States)

2004

Date Name Country Comments
January 22 – January 28 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Hitachi United States (Hawaii) Visit to attend events related to the Joint Conference of the Japanese Cancer Association and the American Association for Cancer and observe the state of overseas nations
March 25 – March 29 His Imperial Highness Prince Tomohito of Mikasa United Kingdom Visit to attend the wedding ceremony of a classmate of Her Imperial Highness Princess Akiko during her studies in the United Kingdom
March 25 – March 31 Her Imperial Highness Princess Akiko United Kingdom As above
March 29 – March 31 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Akishino The Netherlands Visit to attend the funeral of Her Royal Highness Princess Juliana of the Netherlands
April 13, 2004 – July 1, 2008 Her Imperial Highness Princess Tsuguko United Kingdom,
Italy,
Norway,
Germany,
Luxembourg,
Canada,
Croatia,
Spain,
France,
Austria,
Czech Republic,
Hungary,
Montenegro,
Slovenia,
Romania,
Jordan,
Egypt		 Overseas study (University of Edinburgh, Scotland)
May 12 – May 24 His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince Denmark,
Portugal,
Spain		 Visits to attend the wedding ceremony of His Royal Highness Prince Frederic of Denmark at the invitation of Denmark, and to promote international goodwill at the invitation of Portugal
Visit to attend the wedding ceremony of His Royal Highness Felipe, Prince of Asturias at the invitation of Spain
June 7 – June 27 Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado Canada Visit promoting international goodwill to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Canada, at the invitation of Canada
(Stopover in the United Kingdom)
July 13 – July 16 His Imperial Highness Prince Tomohito of Mikasa Turkey Visit to attend the ground-breaking ceremony for the Japanese Institute of Anatolian Archaeology of the Middle Eastern Culture Center
August 23 – August 30 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Hitachi Greece Visit to observe the 28th Olympic Games and to observe the state of overseas nations
September 8 – September 11 His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince Brunei Darussalam Visit to attend the wedding ceremony of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Billah of Brunei Darussalam, at the invitation of Brunei Darussalam
September 25, 2004 – January 31, 2010 Her Imperial Highness Princess Akiko United Kingdom,
Italy,
France,
United States,
Turkey,
Switzerland,
the Netherlands,
Belgium,
Germany		 Overseas study (Merton College, Oxford University, England)
November 14 –November 19 Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado Thailand Visit to attend events related to the Third IUCN World Conference, and observe the state of overseas nations
December 24, 2004 – January 4, 2005 Her Imperial Highness Princess Noriko United Kingdom Travel (While in her first year at Gakushuin Girls' Senior High School)

2005

Date Name Country Comments
January 14 – January 16 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Akishino Luxembourg Visit to attend the funeral of HRH Grand Duchess Josephine-Charlotte of Luxembourg
March 8 – March 22 Her Imperial Highness Princess Yohko Germany,
France		 Visits to participate in the second Japanese – European goodwill tournament of the Kanto Student Kendo Association
April 13 – April 17 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Hitachi Monaco Visit to attend as a dispatch the funeral of His Royal Highness Prince Rainier III of Monaco
(Stopover in France)
May 7 – May 14 Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress Norway Visit to promote international goodwill at the invitation of Norway
(Stopover in Ireland)
June 21 – June 28 Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado Germany,
Jordan		 Visits to observe the FIFA Confederations Cup Germany 2005, and to attend the wedding ceremony of Princess Badiya of Jordan
(Stopover in the United Kingdom)
June 27 – June 28 Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress United States (Saipan) Visit to mourn and pay tribute to those who died in the war and to pray for world peace in 60th year after the end of the war
July 4 – July 9 His Imperial Highness Prince Katsura France Visit to attend the opening ceremony of an exhibition of Ukiyoe artworks and observe the state of overseas nations
August 3 – August 4 His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince Saudi Arabia Visit to pay condolences on the demise of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques
August 17 – August 24 His Imperial Highness Prince Akishino Thailand Visit for joint Japanese-Thai research on poultry
September 29 – October 6 His Imperial Highness Prince Tomohito of Mikasa Turkey Visit to attend the dedication ceremony for the Japanese Institute of Anatolian Archaeology of the Middle Eastern Culture Center
Visit to observe archaeological monuments
September 30 – October 10 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Hitachi Nicaragua,
El Salvador		 Visits promoting international goodwill to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, at the invitation of Nicaragua and El Salvador
(Stopover in the United States)
November 3 – November 8 Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado United Kingdom Visit to attend events related to the Global Council Meeting of BirdLife International, and observe the state of overseas nations
December 23, 2005 – January 4, 2006 Her Imperial Highness Princess Noriko United Kingdom Travel (While in her second year at Gakushuin Girls' Senior High School)

2006

Date Name Country Comments
January 22 – January 28 Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado Canada Visit to attend the opening ceremony of the Prince Takamado Gallery of Japan and observe the state of overseas nations
March 15 – March 21 His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince Mexico Visit to attend the 4th World Water Forum, at the invitation of Mexico
(Stopover in Canada)
June 8 – June 15 Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress Singapore,
Thailand		 Visits to promote international goodwill to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, at the invitation of Singapore, and to attend celebrations for the 60th Anniversary of the Accession to the Throne of His Majesty the King of Thailand
(Stopover in Malaysia)
June 17 - June 25 Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado Germany Visit to observe the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and observe the state of overseas nations
August 3 – August 16 Her Imperial Highness Princess Mako Austria Travel (While in her third year at Gakushuin Girls' Junior High School)
August 17 - August 31 Their Imperial Highnesses the Crown Prince and Crown Princess,
Her Imperial Highness Princess Aiko		 The Netherlands Visit and stay for recuperation at the invitation of the Her Majesty Queen of the Netherlands
September 18 – September 20 His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince Tonga Visit to attend the funeral of His Majesty Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, King of Tonga
(Stopover in New Zealand)
October 30 – November 7 His Imperial Highness Prince Akishino Paraguay Visit promoting international goodwill to celebrate 70 years of Japanese emigration to Paraguay, at the invitation of Paraguay
(Stopovers in France, Chile, and New Zealand)

2007

Date Name Country Comments
March 14 – March 23 His Imperial Highness Prince Akishino Thailand Visit to attend the conference on joint Japanese-Thai research on poultry and conduct field studies, and for conferment of an honorary fellowship from of King Mongkut's University of Technology
May 21 – May 30 Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress Sweden,
Estonia,Latvia,
Lithuania,
United Kingdom		 Visits following request for the presence of His Majesty, as a honorary member of the Linnean Society, and Her Majesty by Sweden and the United Kingdom to mark the 300th anniversary of the birth of Carl von Linné, and visits to promote international goodwill at the invitation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
July 10 – July 17 His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince Mongolia Visit to promote international goodwill at the invitation of Mongolia
August 8 – August 22 Her Imperial Highness Princess Ayako New Zealand Travel (While in her second year at Gakushuin Girls' Senior High School)
August 13 - August 25 His Imperial Highness Prince Akishino,
Her Imperial Highness Princess Mako		 Madagascar Visit to observe the diversity of living creatures and forest reconstruction in Madagascar and conduct research on farm animals, poultry and extinct birds
August 18 - August 25 Her Imperial Highness Princess Noriko Korea Travel (While in her first year in the Faculty of Letters, Gakushuin University)
September 12 – September 23 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Hitachi France Visit to attend events related to the Praemium Imperiale and observe the state of overseas nations

2008

Date Name Country Comments
January 18 – January 25 Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Akishino Indonesia Visit to attend the opening ceremony of the Golden Year of Friendship 2008 Indonesia-Japan marking the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, at the invitation of Indonesia
June 16 – June 27 His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince Brazil Visit to promote international goodwill on the occasion of the centennial anniversary of Japanese emigration to Brazil, at the invitation of Brazil
(Stopover in the United States)
July 16 – July 23 His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince Spain Visit promoting international goodwill on the holding of the 2008 Zaragoza International Exposition, at the invitation of Spain
July 30 – August 3 His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince Tonga Visit to attend the coronation of the King of Tonga, at the invitation of Tonga
(Stopover in Australia)
September 16 – October 3 Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado Uruguay,
Brazil,
Argentina,
Paraguay		 Visits to attend the Birdlife International World Conference in Argentina and observe the state of overseas nations
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