Emperor checks out water issues, his passion, on trip to Mongolia
At times donning a helmet, the emperor inspected facilities in Ulan Bator's Gachuurt district that draws groundwater from the Tuul River on July 7.
He also visited the Water Supply and Sewerage Authority of Ulaanbaatar City, which provides the water supply and sewerage services in the capital.
Naruhito and Empress Masako are on an official visit to Mongolia from July 6 to 13. He is the first emperor to travel to the East Asian country.
At a news conference prior to the trip, Naruhito said he wanted to deepen his understanding of Mongolia by learning more about the country's water-related issues.
'Knowing the water-related problems of different countries leads to better understanding the society and culture of each of them,' he said at the time.
The visits to the Gachuurt water source facilities and the water supply and sewerage authority were arranged partly in line with Naruhito's wishes.
As of 2024, Ulan Bator was home to about 1.77 million people, half of the country's population.
Facilities have been built in Gachuurt and elsewhere to draw groundwater from the Tuul River, which flows through the city, to ease the water shortage caused by the boom in population.
Shinichi Okuda, a professor of law at Takushoku University who is familiar with the water situation in Mongolia, said new water sources will be necessary for Ulan Bator because the population is projected to keep increasing.
Okuda is particularly concerned about 'ger districts' on the outskirts of Ulan Bator.
Large numbers of nomads who lost their livestock to snow damage have settled in these areas, but the water and sewage infrastructure is underdeveloped. Children often have to travel long distances to get water from the few available wells.
Shady figures have claimed control over well water and charge usage fees from residents. Contagious diseases have also spread as groundwater has been contaminated by sewage.
'Issues of water and poverty have been closely linked with each other,' Okuda said.
Naruhito developed an interest in water-related issues after learning about children suffering from water shortages in other countries.
Hideaki Oda, who advised Naruhito on his research in the field, remembers him showing a photograph of children carrying pots and waiting for their turns at a watering spot in Pokhara, Nepal, when he was crown prince.
Naruhito said he took the photo with his own camera in March 1987 because he was distressed by the plight of children traveling long distances to collect water there.
'Water-related issues can lead to international conflicts, disasters and poverty,' Oda said. 'The emperor is intensely interested in how to share limited water resources.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Mainichi
7 days ago
- The Mainichi
Japan emperor, empress describe trip to Mongolia as 'truly memorable'
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako on Sunday described their visit to Mongolia as "truly memorable" as they concluded a trip aimed at affirming the two nations' enduring friendship and commemorating war victims. "We were able to directly feel the rich history and culture of Mongolia, as well as its natural wonders," they said in a statement released by the Imperial Household Agency, recalling the first state visit to Mongolia by a Japanese emperor. During their eight-day trip, held in a year marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the imperial couple paid their respects to Japanese nationals who died in internment camps in Mongolia after the war. "We prayed for the souls of the deceased who were unwillingly separated from their home and thought about the hardship they faced," they said. After the war, the Soviet military transferred around 14,000 of the approximately 575,000 Japanese prisoners of war held in Siberia to Mongolia, where they were made to work on infrastructure projects for about two years. More than 1,700 are believed to have died. The emperor and empress laid flowers and observed a moment of silence at a memorial established by the Japanese government on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar on Tuesday. It was the first time an emperor honored the memory of Japanese victims at an overseas internment site. At a banquet hosted the same day by Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh and his wife in Ulaanbaatar, the emperor joined a musical performance by traditional horsehead fiddle players with his viola. The imperial couple also attended Naadam, Mongolia's largest annual festival, on Friday. "We have deepened our understanding of the progress of the friendship that has been fostered over many years through the visit," the imperial couple said, expressing their appreciation for being warmly welcomed by the government and the people of Mongolia. "We expect young people to further deepen their mutual interest and play significant roles (in advancing bilateral ties)," they also said. Sandwiched between China and Russia, Mongolia established diplomatic relations with Japan in 1972. The two countries have maintained close ties since the landlocked nation began democratization and economic liberalization in 1990. The imperial couple waved farewell as Mongolian officials saw them off at Chinggis Khaan International Airport. They returned to Tokyo's Haneda Airport later Sunday.
15-07-2025
East Asia Crashing: Dynamism Undone by Demographics
Japan is falling rapidly through the ranks of the world's top economies. According to the International Monetary Fund, it will drop to number five in 2025, behind the United States, China, Germany, and India, the new number four. But Japan is not alone in its plight. Just as it spearheaded the East Asian boom that began in the 1960s, it has set the pace for the bust now gripping South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong—with China almost certain to follow. At the heart of this shift are the inexorable forces of demographic aging and population decline. East Asia's Economic Relay For many years East Asia was the world's key growth center, and Japan was the main engine behind that growth. During the era of the 'Japanese miracle,' from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s, the Japanese economy's growth rate was the envy of the world. In 1968, Japan shot past what was then West Germany to become the world's second largest economic power, after the United States. Beginning in the mid-1960s, South Korea followed with the 'miracle on the Han River.' It was soon joined by Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore to form a dynamic group dubbed the Four Little Dragons. The rise of the 'big dragon,' China, began in the late 1970s under the 'reform and opening up' policies of Deng Xiaoping. Emerging from the devastation of the Cultural Revolution (1966–76), China needed only about 30 years to overtake Japan, becoming the world's second-largest economy in 2010. By that time, Japan was already on a different trajectory. Following the collapse of the 1980s asset price bubble, it entered the 'lost decade,' which dragged on for another 20-odd years, allowing China to take over as the growth center of Asia and the world. In 2024, the Japanese economy fell to fourth place, behind Germany. As a portion of global economic output, Japan's nominal GDP has fallen from 17.5% in 1995 to around 4% today. Demographic Destiny? This growth trajectory closely tracks demographic trends. Japan's population peaked in 2008 at 128.08 million, and it has been contracting continuously since 2011. In 2024, the number of live births fell below 700,000 for the first time since the government launched its annual vital statistics survey in 1899. Moreover, Japan's neighbors, after following us on the road to growth and prosperity, are experiencing the same demographic transition. South Korea's population fell for two consecutive years after reaching 51.76 million in 2020. In 2023, the country's total population grew slightly thanks to an influx in foreign workers, but with one of the world's lowest fertility rates, South Korea is unlikely to stem its long-term demographic decline. Taiwan's population contracted for three years running after hitting 23.60 million in 2019. It bounced back slightly in 2023—again, thanks to immigration—but started shrinking again in 2024. Finally, we come to China, long the world's most populous country. Population decline here had an artificial component in the form of the one-child policy adopted in 1979. But the birthrate remained lackluster even after the policy was scrapped in 2015. As a result, China's population has been shrinking ever since 2021, when it peaked at 1.264 billion. In 2023, according to UN statistics, India overtook China as the world's most populous nation. The key indicator of future demographic trends is total fertility rate (TFR), the number of children the average woman is expected to bear in her lifetime. In developed countries, replacement-level fertility—the rate at which the population stays constant—is about 2.1. In the World Bank's TFR ranking of 218 countries and territories, Japan ranks at number 199 with a TFR of 1.20, China at 211 (1.00), Taiwan at 215 (0.87), Hong Kong at 216 (0.75), and South Korea at 217 (0.72). If fertility continues at these levels, the region's population will fall by at least half before the century is out. What was once the world's growth center is facing depopulation. Westward Shift In addition to having fewer children, people in East Asia are living longer, resulting in rapid demographic aging. This means that the productive population (those aged 15–64) is dwindling as a percentage of the whole. This naturally drags down economic activity and blunts growth, and that is exactly what we have seen in East Asia in recent years. Japan's growth rate has languished between 0% and 1% and South Korea's between 1% and 2%, while Taiwan's has ranged from 1% to 4%. The Chinese government announced a growth rate of 5% for 2024, but that figure strains credibility. Domestic demand has remained sluggish amid the prolonged real estate crisis, and deflationary pressures have been mounting over the past two years. On top of that, China is experiencing an exodus of foreign capital owing to multiple factors, including the tightening of regulations in response to friction with the United States. China has been issuing special treasury bonds and injecting capital into its major banks. All these circumstances suggest that the actual growth rate may be less than half the figure published by the government. China still has the world's second largest economy, but its share of global GDP has dropped to less than 17% from the 2021 peak of 18.3%. Meanwhile, Vietnam's population surpassed 100 million in 2023, and the country's economy grew by 7% in 2024. In India, which has replaced China as the world's biggest country, GDP growth has held between 6% and 9% since 2021. The growth center of Asia, and of the world, is shifting westward. (Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo: Children receive instruction in first aid during a civil defense drill held in central Seoul, May 2023. © AFP/Jiji.)
The Diplomat
14-07-2025
- The Diplomat
Japanese Emperor Naruhito's Visit to Mongolia Emphasizes ‘Special Strategic Partnership'
The Japanese monarch's first state visit to Mongolia acknowledged the past while looking toward the future of the two democracies' ties. Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako just wrapped up an 8-day visit to Mongolia at the invitation of the Mongolian President Khurelsukh Ukhnaa. Naruhito's historic state visit to Mongolia envisaged a special partnership between the two countries at the highest level of government. For Tokyo and Ulaanbaatar, the emperor's visit has robust historic, diplomatic, and symbolic implications for the two countries' relations moving forward. Welcoming the visit, Mongolia's Foreign Minister Battsetseg Batmunkh told The Diplomat, 'This first state visit of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako has a historical significance that will deepen the friendly relations between Mongolia and Japan, strengthen the friendship and camaraderie between the peoples, which have become the 'cornerstone' of relations, and be engraved in golden letters in the history of relations.' Khurelsukh and Naruhito previously met in 2019, when Khurelsukh attended the Japanese emperor's enthronement ceremony. Naruhito had previously visited Mongolia as a crown prince in 2007 during Enkhbayar Nambar's presidency. This state visit, however, was both more ceremonial and more symbolic. Historical Reconciliation Naruhito's visit – only his third trip overseas since assuming the throne – held profound symbolism this year, which commemorates the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. To Mongolia and Japan, which fought against each other in the war, historical remembrance and diplomacy go hand in hand. On July 8, the emperor and empress visited the memorial for Japanese prisoners of war (POWs) in Mongolia. According to the National Archives of Mongolia, during World War II approximately 12,000 Japanese forced laborers were sent to the Mongolian People's Republic (MPR) from the Soviet Union, particularly Siberia. According Mongolia's Institute of Strategic Studies, 'Mongolia's records indicated 12,318 POWs in total [sent to Mongolia] and 1,621 deaths whereas Japanese records stated 13,847 POWs and 1,684 deaths.' Shuzo Yamada, an a 107-year-old former internee who helped build the foundations of the modern Sukhbaatar Square, commented on the visit. According to Japanese media, he said that 'he is glad that the Emperor and Empress will pay their respects and people will become aware of the internment in Mongolia.' In 1966, before Japan and Mongolia had even formally established diplomatic ties, the first group of Japanese delegates paid their respects at a cemetery for the Japanese forced laborers. Sites commemorating the POWs have been visited by Japanese Prime Ministers Kaifu Toshiki, Koizumi Junichiro, and Abe Shinzo; the official memorial for the Japanese POWs was built in 2001 by the Mongolian and the Japanese governments. On Japan's part, the consistent visit of Japanese delegations to historical sites acknowledges an era of warfare, as well as serving as a mechanism to move toward the future. Imperial Japan's historical atrocities often face controversy in East Asia, and reconciliation has been a way for Japan to navigate both regional and global affairs. Japan's moves to reconcile and recognize historical atrocities are thus geopolitically relevant. Deepening of Bilateral Ties Beyond history, Naruhito's state visit contributed to Japan-Mongolia diplomatic and cultural ties. The monarchs visited Ulaanbaatar's water supply and sewage facility, Shine Mongol High School, and attended the opening ceremony of Mongolia's Naadam festival. The emperor's visit thus shed a light on cooperative elements of the partnership between Mongolia and Japan. In 2022, Mongolia and Japan commemorated their 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties by upgrading their relations to a Special Strategic Partnership. The Special Strategic Partnership serves as a robust bilateral foreign policy framework to foster people-centered cooperation in fields such as education, health, engineering, and environment. The partnership will be implemented within the 10-year Action Program of the 'Special Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity' between Ulaanbaatar and Tokyo. At the same time, given the current escalation of regional security concerns, Mongolia and Japan's Special Strategic Partnership cannot afford to overlook defense and security cooperation. Hence, a strong Japan-Mongolia partnership is also strategically motivated. Ulaanbaatar's 'third neighbor' foreign policy supports its export access to Indo-Pacific. In 2022, a Japan-Mongolia-U.S. trilateral meeting took place in Tokyo and all three parties reiterated the mutual commitment to democracy, peace, and security of the open Indo-Pacific region. As Japan's position becoming ever more relevant in East Asia and the Indo-Pacific, expanding that trilateral mechanism is crucial. In East Asia, defense spending continues to rise and this trend includes Mongolia and Japan. The two countries' defense and security relations have augmented in recent years as well. Japan's Self-Defense Forces have been instrumental in international field rehearsals such as Capacity Building Program, King Search 2022, and Khaan Quest of Mongolia. Japanese forces help provide training in military medicine, engineering, and emergency evacuation exercises. Mongolia and Japan also cooperate in joint drills to provide medical assistance under Mongolia's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) disaster relief management. Nicholas Millward, the director for the Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies stated, 'In the East Asia context, the partnership with Japan, a major regional power, provides Mongolia with access to state-of-the-art defense technologies that will bolster its defense infrastructure without aligning itself with any military alliance. This ensures that Mongolia can maintain its independent foreign policy while benefiting from the security enhancements provided by the agreement.' Future Outlook Mongolia and Japan's special strategic bilateral relations carries global and regional implications. Enhancing trilateral mechanisms – not only between Japan, Mongolia, and the United States but Japan-Mongolia-South Korea – has benefits for both Ulaanbaatar and Tokyo. That said, under its multipillared foreign policy, Mongolia will continue to avoid joining any blocs but rather seek to establish robust bilateral and trilateral mechanisms. Naruhito and Masako's state visit augmented Japan-Mongolia bilateral relations on the historical, diplomatic, and cultural levels. The historic visit to Mongolia promulgates these intangible but observable nuances at the highest level of government. Japan's ambassador to Mongolia, Igawahara Masaru, predicted that the visit of the emperor and empress 'will open a new chapter in the relationship between Japan and Mongolia.' Cooperation with continue with Mongolia's hosting of COP17 of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification next year. The upcoming event was a particular focus for Masako, who has a deep personal interest in environmental and climate change issues and often calls for regional cooperation in this area. Naruhito expressed that Japan would send a high-level representative to COP17. In the face of rising regional instability, Ulaanbaatar and Tokyo will work to uphold democratic and peaceful foreign policies. The Japanese monarch's first state visit to Mongolia enabled the deepening of Mongolia and Japan's Special Strategic Partnership and emphasized a greater diplomatic symbolism that recognizes the past while establishing a sustainable path for future relations between the two government and two societies.
