Julia Longbottom
6:00 JST, July 12, 2024
A current state go to by the Emperor and Empress to the UK strengthened ties between the 2 nations in a wide range of fields. British Ambassador Julia Longbottom displays on how this go to highlighted many facets of the U.Okay.-Japan friendship within the following contribution to The Japan Information.
A fortnight in the past at this time, their Majesties the Emperor and Empress boarded a airplane to return house from their state go to to the UK. The go to got here at a time when, within the Emperor’s phrases, “bilateral relations have by no means been extra strong.”
As the UK’s ambassador to Japan, it was an honor for me to be concerned in a program that showcased the energy of our ties.
The state go to continued a practice of respect and friendship between the households of the British and Japanese monarchs. The ceremonial welcome supplied by King Charles III and Queen Camilla, with an honor guard and carriage procession down The Mall, adopted by a non-public lunch at Buckingham Palace and a state banquet within the night, is one reserved for essentially the most honored of friends. King Charles appointed the Emperor to the Order of the Garter, the best order of chivalry in the UK. I used to be touched when the Emperor spoke of the heat of the royal household and his admiration for the late Queen Elizabeth II. Constructing on years of household ties, this state go to was a gathering of outdated associates.
The shut connections between the UK and Japan lengthen past our monarchies. They embody many sectors and organizations, together with our companies, stretching again to the daybreak of the Meiji period within the late 1860s when our markets first encountered one another. At this time some 1,000 Japanese corporations make use of 160,000 individuals in the UK, and British firms in Japan quantity nearly 200. The banquet that the lord mayor of London hosted for the Emperor at Guildhall was a celebration of our long-standing buying and selling relationship characterised by innovation and worldwide standard-setting.
U.Okay.-Japan friendship additionally consists of our pioneering scientists. In his speech on the state banquet, the Emperor spoke of British biologist John Gurdon’s cutting-edge analysis on stem cells, which paved the way in which for Shinya Yamanaka’s later improvement of induced pluripotent stem cells, and their joint Nobel Prize in 2012. On the Francis Crick Institute, the Emperor heard {that a} new technology of scientists is constructing on their analysis to know the genetic foundation of life-threatening infections. This is only one instance of the collaboration between British and Japanese scientists serving to to develop options to the issues affecting us all.
Our monarchs share a devotion to — and scientific curiosity in — nature and biodiversity. The Emperor heard concerning the work of the Millennium Seed Financial institution to preserve nationwide floras and protect seeds from world wide. Because the Emperor mentioned on the state banquet, “the seeds will likely be preserved lengthy into the longer term as symbols of resilience and friendship between Japan and the U.Okay.”
I used to be struck by the Emperor’s deal with the significance of alternate between younger individuals within the U.Okay. and Japan. On the Younger V&A, the U.Okay.’s first nationwide museum created with and for kids, their Majesties’ faces lit up after they talked to youngsters engaged in artistic play. On the Royal School of Music, the Emperor took time to converse with college students, placing them comfy along with his information of Mozart and enquiries about their work. The U.Okay.-Japan relationship has individuals at its coronary heart — and its eyes turned firmly in the direction of the longer term.
This was a significant go to for the Emperor and Empress, and a shifting one for me. The product of years of deepening ties, in areas starting from biodiversity and science to tradition and schooling, it showcased the brand new period of U.Okay.-Japan relations. Within the phrases of the Emperor, we’re “associates like no different,” the closest of companions. The go to additionally gave me optimism for the longer term. I’m assured that the U.Okay.-Japan relationship will proceed to develop, via milestones like Expo 2025 and subsequent yr’s Provider Strike Group go to to Japan, and thru ever-closer friendship between our peoples.
