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Tuesday, November 18, 2025
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Japanese Princess Lands in Laos on First Trip Overseas

This Week

AFP – Japan’s Princess Aiko arrived in Laos on 17 November for her first official overseas trip, state media said, a largely symbolic visit to Tokyo’s beneficiary in Southeast Asia.

Aiko landed in at Vientiane’s Wattay International Airport shortly before 8 PM.

The only child of Emperor Naruhito, not in line to the throne due to the royal family’s male-only succession rules, will spend this week in the country to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Japan-Laos diplomatic relations.

One of Asia’s largest economies, Japan has provided more than USD 370 million in grants to Laos between 2019 and 2024, making it one of the nation’s largest bilateral donors.

Much of the over 150 development projects in that time have been funded through Japan’s overseas development agency, JICA.

During her trip through 22 November, Aiko will meet President Thongloun Sisoulith and visit a center to raise awareness about the unexploded ordnance left over from the Vietnam War, which continues to kill and injure people in Laos. Japan has long supported ordnance clearing and rehabilitation programs in the country.

The 23-year-old princess will also attend a martial arts competition at the Japan-supported Budo Center and visit a Japanese-language school, according to Japanese media reports.

Japan often sends younger members of the royal family on goodwill missions across Southeast Asia, quiet gestures of soft power meant to build personal, long-term connections beyond politics.

Even though Japanese tradition dictates only a man can carry on the centuries-old imperial line, opinion polls have shown high public support for a woman taking the throne.

Laos has in recent years hosted a handful of international royals.

Neighbouring Thailand’s Princess Sirindhorn visited this year and last year, the Sultan of Brunei in 2023, and Luxembourg’s Grand Duke Henri in 2022.

Japan’s Emperor Naruhito, then-crown prince, last visited Laos in 2012.


© Agence France-Presse

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