News On Japan

Emperor Plays Viola at State Banquet, Celebrates Japan-Mongolia Ties

Ulaanbaatar, Jul 09 (News On Japan) - The Emperor and Empress, currently on an official visit to Mongolia as state guests, attended a banquet hosted by the country’s president and first lady, where the Emperor performed music alongside a traditional Mongolian horsehead fiddle orchestra.

Just before 8 p.m. Japan time, the imperial couple was welcomed by the presidential couple at a hotel in the capital, Ulaanbaatar. The banquet was held in a hall where attendees included individuals who have contributed to Japan-Mongolia friendship and cultural exchange.

In his address, the Emperor began in Mongolian, saying, "Tа бүхэнтэй дахин уулзаж байгаадаа баяртай байна (I am pleased to see you all again)." He continued, "Under the deep blue sky, during this most beautiful season when plants compete to bud and flowers bloom magnificently, I am delighted to visit your country with the Empress."

The Emperor also noted that since his previous visit as Crown Prince in 2007, the number of Mongolian students studying in Japan has quadrupled. Emphasizing the deepening exchange among younger generations, he remarked, "I hope that young people will fully demonstrate their vitality and that our bilateral ties will rise ever higher toward the Mongolian blue sky, Tengger."

During the event, the Emperor joined the Mongolian State Morin Khuur Symphony Orchestra in a musical performance. He played two pieces on his viola, including the Japanese classic "Hamabe no Uta" ("Song of the Seashore"), a personal hobby of his.

This marked the second time the Emperor has performed with the same orchestra, the previous occasion being during his 2007 visit to Mongolia.

Source: TBS

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

An Idemitsu Kosan crude oil tanker has safely passed through the Strait of Hormuz, becoming the first vessel bound for Japan to do so since attacks on Iran heightened tensions in the region and effectively disrupted maritime traffic.

Japan’s Golden Week holiday period got fully underway on April 29, drawing large crowds to major tourist destinations and airports, where long lines formed as overseas travel surged.

A series of sightings involving unusually large brown bears in Hokkaido has heightened concerns among local residents, with one 330-kilogram animal captured in Tomamae and another 280-kilogram bear attacking a hunter in Shimamaki.

Full-scale Golden Week travel began on April 29, with Chubu Centrair International Airport experiencing its busiest outbound travel day of the holiday period. The airport was crowded from the morning with vacationers heading overseas.

Electricity and gas bills for usage in May will rise slightly in Japan, with the impact of tensions involving Iran expected to appear in utility charges from June onward. Larger increases could follow in subsequent months.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Society NEWS

A motorcyclist was killed after colliding with a deer and being struck by following vehicles on April 29th in the early hours in Shibukawa, Gunma Prefecture, with police arresting a 61-year-old woman on suspicion of a hit-and-run.

A man in his 40s is on the run after allegedly attacking two teenage boys with a hammer, injuring police officers and his mother by spraying what is believed to be agricultural chemicals, and then escaping from his home during a police standoff in Tokyo's Fussa on April 29.

A male zoo keeper in his 50s was seriously injured after being attacked by a rhinoceros at the Kumamoto City Zoo and Botanical Gardens on April 26.

A Japanese serow, a species designated by the government as a Special Natural Monument, entered a bank in Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, on the afternoon of April 27.

A viral social media video showing a man believed to be a foreign national being restrained by police in Tokyo has sparked widespread debate, with claims that officers had begun deporting troublesome tourists by wrapping them 'like sushi.'

A 57-year-old man was arrested after allegedly stealing a fire engine dispatched to a suspicious fire near a railway station in Aichi Prefecture, then crashing it about 9 kilometers away while attempting to drive back to his home in Chiba Prefecture.

A male employee of Asahiyama Zoo in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, has told investigators that he disposed of his wife's body in the zoo's incinerator and burned it for several hours, police said, as officers continued voluntary questioning of the man in his 30s, according to sources close to the investigation.

Princess Aiko, the eldest daughter of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, attended a performance of the traditional Japanese court music art known as gagaku.