天皇てんのう皇后こうごう両りょう陛下へいか モンゴル公式こうしき訪問ほうもん 首都しゅとウランバートルに到着とうちゃく

Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress arrived in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, on the afternoon of the 6th.

The government plane carrying Their Majesties departed from Haneda Airport and arrived at Chinggis Khaan International Airport near Ulaanbaatar a little after 3:00 p.m. local time, after flying for more than four and a half hours.

This is the first visit to Mongolia by the Emperor and Empress. At the bottom of the aircraft stairs, they received a traditional local welcome, tasted a traditional dairy confection called aaruul served in a silver cup, received a bouquet of flowers, and exchanged words with the people who had come to greet them.

While several local TV stations broadcast their arrival live, Their Majesties traveled by car to a hotel in the city.

This time, as part of an official visit for international goodwill, His Majesty the Emperor will visit the National Museum, which showcases the history and culture of Mongolia, as well as water and sewage supply facilities developed with Japanese assistance, on the 7th.

On the 8th, after attending the state welcome ceremony together with the Empress, His Majesty will meet with President Khurelsukh and his wife, and in the evening, will attend a welcome banquet at the hotel where they are staying.

In the afternoon of this day, you will also visit a memorial for the Japanese who were detained by the former Soviet Union after the war and sent to Mongolia, where they lost their lives due to harsh labor and other hardships, and pay respects to the souls of the victims.

At the end of the schedule, you are scheduled to attend the opening ceremony of the national sports festival Naadam, where skills in archery, horse racing, and other events are competed, and to watch the competitions, allowing you to experience Mongolian history and culture.

The bereaved families attending the memorial, including the chairman of the Japan War-Bereaved Families Association and relatives of those who lost their lives while interned, are also scheduled to attend Their Majesties memorial service.

Of these, Ms. Fusae Suzuki 88 from Komae City, Tokyo, who will leave Japan for the site on the 7th, lost her father, Mr. Jun Arai, who was drafted three months before the end of the war.

My father, who worked for a trading company and lived with his family in former Manchuria, was detained by the Soviets after the end of the war and went missing.

The following year, after returning to Japan, the Suzuki family spent day after day listening to the Missing Persons program on the radio, waiting for the father to come home. However, he had contracted tuberculosis in Mongolia and passed away in March of 1947.

Mr. Suzuki participated in the Mongolia Association, which is made up of former soldiers who survived internment and bereaved families, and has traveled to Mongolia more than ten times to continue memorial services there.

When they visited the square in front of the government building in the center of Ulaanbaatar, where the welcoming ceremony for Their Majesties was to be held, they were surprised to hear from former detainees, We built this place.

Mr. Suzuki said, I thought about how hard it must have been to build squares and buildings by hand, doing heavy labor in a harshly cold place with no food.

On the other hand, I heard from the local people that they were troubled when as many as 14,000 Japanese soldiers suddenly arrived in their poor town where there was no food, but they still brought food, blankets, and futons to the freezing soldiers. I feel that the fact that the buildings built by my father and the other internees still remain today is a powerful message for peace.

I hope Their Majesties will be able to see as many of those buildings as possible, he said.

Mr. Suzuki, who decided to visit Mongolia again to coincide with Their Majesties visit, wanted to convey the feelings of his fellow members from the Mongolia Association, which had disbanded due to aging. At the end of last month, he contacted a 100-year-old man living in Hyogo Prefecture who had experienced internment by phone and said, I believe that those who passed away during internment would also be pleased by Their Majesties memorial visit.

I received a message asking me to tell you, Thank you for coming all the way to the memorial monument.

Mr. Suzuki said, I wish Their Majesties visit to pay their respects could have taken place while those who experienced internment were still alive and well, but its not too late.

I believe that the fact that many people lost their lives due to harsh labor while being detained in Mongolia after the war is one of the histories that must not be forgotten, so I am very grateful that you are shedding light on this.