Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako thanked the British government and King Charles in a statement on Saturday for hosting them during their weeklong visit, expressing hopes for deeper ties between the two nations.
"Through our visit, we have been able to deepen our understanding of how the friendship that the peoples of our country and Britain cultivated over many years has come to be," the imperial couple said in the statement issued after they landed at Tokyo's Haneda airport.
The statement from the Imperial Household Agency concludes with the hope that the visit will "further deepen cooperation and friendship between Japan and Britain."
Their itinerary included a three-day official portion during which King Charles escorted them on a tour of the Mall ceremonial route in horse-drawn carriages and hosted a state banquet at Buckingham Palace, among other engagements.
After concluding the official portion of the tour, the couple visited Oxford University together for the first time since their separate studies there decades ago.
The imperial couple's tour of Britain was their second goodwill overseas trip since Emperor Naruhito ascended the throne in 2019. The visit was initially planned for 2020 but was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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