HANOI (Kyodo) -- Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko arrived in Vietnam on Tuesday for their first trip to the Southeast Asian country to promote goodwill and soothe some of the wounds from World War II through exchanges with Vietnamese wives of former Japanese soldiers.
The weeklong tour will also take the imperial couple to Thailand to pay their respects to the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died last October.
"In our relations with Vietnam, we welcomed as state guests to Japan, His Excellency President Nguyen Minh Triet in 2007 and His Excellency President Truong Tan Sang in 2014, and we have been kindly offered invitations to visit Vietnam," Emperor Akihito said at Tokyo's Haneda airport before departure.
"It is our hope that our visit to Vietnam will contribute to the further development of the mutual understanding and friendly relations between our two countries," he said.
Referring to their planned stopover in Thailand, the emperor said, "The empress and I enjoyed a close friendship of over 50 years with the late king."
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