Japan's Emperor Naruhito to attend Queen Elizabeth's funeral in first overseas trip -media

Japan's Emperor Naruhito is planning to attend the funeral of Britain's Queen Elizabeth in his first overseas trip since his succession, Japanese media reported on Friday.

Japan's Emperor Naruhito is planning to attend the funeral of Britain's Queen Elizabeth in his first overseas trip since his succession, Japanese media reported on Friday. Empress Masako has also expressed a wish to attend the funeral and the Japanese government is arranging their trip, NTV, TBS and other media said, citing government sources.

The Emperor had been invited to Britain by Queen Elizabeth in 2020 after acceding to the throne in May 2019, but the trip was postponed due to the pandemic, according to media. Queen Elizabeth, who visited Japan in 1975 to meet then-Emperor Hirohito, made a "great contribution" towards strengthening Japan's ties with Britain, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Friday.

Emperor Naruhito, who studied at Oxford University in the 1980s, was "deeply saddened" by the passing of Queen Elizabeth and offered condolences, the government's Imperial Household Agency said later in the day. It is rare for a Japanese Emperor to attend a royal funeral overseas. In 1993, former Emperor Akihito, now Emperor Emeritus, attended the state funeral of King Baudouin of Belgium with then-Empress Michiko, according to Kyodo news.

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