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King Abdullah and Queen Rania of Jordan have travelled to Japan with their eldest child, Crown Prince Hussein, for a business visit that also included a meeting with Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako. 

The trip is an opportunity for the Jordanian King to strengthen ties between the two countries. Meetings have also been scheduled with Japan’s highest-ranking officials, from Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the House of Councillors. 

The meeting between the two monarchs happened at Tokyo’s Imperial Palace on Tuesday, 11 April, and came on the second day of the trip that brought the Jordanian King to Japan. 

On Monday, 10 April, His Majesty and the Crown Prince met with the Foreign and Defence Ministers of Japan to discuss existing ties and common projects, as well as ways to improve relations and cooperation. King Abdullah took the opportunity to express his views on the current situation between Israel and Palestine, a conflict that seems to have touched new peaks of violence over the last few weeks, and an attempt at negotiating a truce carried out by Egypt and Jordan itself has failed. 

The next meeting was also attended by King Abdullah and Queen Rania’s youngest son, Prince Hashem, and saw the Jordanian royals face to face with the Ministers of Economy and Digital Transformation, as well as the Chairman of the Japanese-Jordanian Friendship Association. 

Afterwards, Crown Prince Hussein undertook some solo engagements, including a meeting with Japan’s Crown Prince Couple, Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko, which, according to some Japanese media, also included the couple’s congratulations for Crown Prince Hussein’s recent engagement and upcoming wedding. 

Day two of the visit opened with a meeting by King Abdullah and Crown Prince Hussein with the top leaders of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency. The two parties discussed potential cooperation in energy, water, tourism, education and administrative modernisation. 

King Abdullah then went alone to a meeting with leaders of the Japanese Diet before reuniting with his wife and older son to meet the Emperor and Empress. 

This trip comes when both Jordan and Japan are trying to broaden their international ties to rebuild on broader bases following the hit represented by the pandemic. The next stop for the Jordanian King will be the United Kingdom, where he will attend the 200th graduation parade at Sandhurst Military Academy.