Latest news with #UkhnaaKhurelsukh
Yomiuri Shimbun
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Japanese Imperial Couple Delighted By ‘Truly Memorable Trip' to Mongolia
The Emperor and Empress have returned to Japan from their official visit to Mongolia and expressed their delight at their first visit to the country together. Following their return, the couple reflected on their visit in writing, saying that they 'visited Mongolia together for the first time, and it was a truly memorable trip.' The Imperial couple arrived at Tokyo's Haneda Airport aboard a government plane Sunday evening. On Sunday morning, the Emperor and Empress visited the official residence of Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh to bid farewell to the president prior to their departure. They left the airport outside Ulaanbaatar a little after noon the same day. The Imperial couple arrived at Haneda Airport around 6 p.m. Sunday. They were welcomed by and exchanged words with Crown Prince Akishino, Crown Princess Kiko, Chief Justice Yukihiko Imasaki and others. The Emperor and Empress arrived in Ulaanbaatar on July 6. They participated in a welcome ceremony and attended the opening ceremony of Naadam, Mongolia's annual national festival, as state guests. They also met with local young people. In the written statement, the couple said they 'were delighted to feel the warm feelings that the people have toward Japan.' They also touched on their laying of flowers at a cenotaph commemorating Japanese people who died in internment in Mongolia after World War II. 'We once again feel that it is important not to forget those who lost their lives in the war, deepen our understanding of history and nurture a peace-loving mind.' They concluded the statement by saying, 'We sincerely hope that the friendly relations and cooperation between Japan and Mongolia will continue to develop further.'
Yomiuri Shimbun
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Emperor, Empress Watch Mongolian Horse Racing at Naadam Festival; Meets Mongolians with Ties to Japan
ULAANBAATAR — The Emperor and Empress on Saturday watched horse racing as part of Naadam, Mongolia's largest sporting event, on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar. Naadam, which is translated as 'festival' in English, is held over three days from July 11, when the country marks the anniversary of the People's Revolution. The event features wrestling, horse racing, archery and Shagain Harvaa, a traditional target shooting game using animal knuckle-bones. Considered the festival's highlight, Saturday's race featured more than 100 horses, and children around the age of 10 raced for 22 kilometers on 5-year-old horses. Under a clear blue sky, the Imperial couple, accompanied by Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh and his wife, watched the galloping horses near the finish line in a viewing area overlooking the vast grassland. The Emperor and Empress had attended the opening ceremony of Naadam at the capital's National Central Stadium the previous day. The Imperial couple, accompanied by the president and his wife, watched a performance by about 2,500 dancers and horseback riders racing across the stadium. The Imperial couple were seen applauding a demonstration of traditional archery. They also tried their hand at knuckle-bone shooting upon the president's recommendation, according to the Imperial Household Agency. Later in the day at the Japanese ambassador's residence, the Imperial couple met with Mongolians who have ties to Japan, including the founder of a museum introducing the history of Japanese people who had been interned in Mongolia and a Japanese language teacher at a local school.
Al Etihad
5 days ago
- Politics
- Al Etihad
UAE President, VPs congratulate President of Mongolia on National Day
11 July 2025 10:49 ABU DHABI (WAM) President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has sent a message of congratulations to President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh of Mongolia on the occasion of his country's National Day. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court, dispatched similar messages to President Khurelsukh and to Prime Minister Gombojav Zandanshatar on the occasion.
Int'l Business Times
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Int'l Business Times
Japan Imperial Couple Visit WWII Memorial, Hail 'Deep Friendship' In Mongolia
Japan's imperial couple commemorated compatriots who died in internment camps after the end of World War II during the first state visit to Mongolia by a Japanese emperor. Japan and Mongolia have drawn closer in recent years, with aid from Tokyo helping to spur economic development in the vast, sparsely populated country. Emperor Naruhito and his wife, Empress Masako, are on an eight-day state visit to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the war, during which Japan waged conflict across East Asia. Japan did not invade Mongolia -- then a client state of the Soviet Union -- during its expansion into continental Asia during World War II. But Moscow transferred thousands of Japanese prisoners of war to Mongolia after the end of the conflict, where around 1,700 are believed to have died while labouring on infrastructure projects. On Tuesday, the couple laid flowers and held a minute's silence at a Tokyo-funded memorial at the site of a former cemetery for deceased prisoners of war in Dambadarjaa, near the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar. At a banquet hosted by Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, Naruhito hailed the two countries' "deep friendship and cooperation". "I hope the younger generation... will inherit the path of their predecessors and let blossom the many seeds of cooperation planted in this wide land," the emperor said. He also teamed up with the Mongolian State Morin Khuur Symphony Orchestra to perform two songs on his viola. The imperial couple are scheduled to attend the opening ceremony of Mongolia's biggest annual festival, Naadam, on Friday ahead of their departure on Sunday. Also on Tuesday, they attended a welcome ceremony in Ulaanbaatar and reviewed a Mongolian honour guard. Naruhito told reporters last week he hoped the visit would help to "invigorate exchanges further, particularly among the younger generation". Tokyo's military legacy continues to colour its ties with other regional neighbours, particularly China and the Koreas. The imperial couple have made several domestic trips this year to commemorate the war dead, including to Hiroshima, Okinawa and Iwo Jima. Beijing said last month it would hold a grand military parade in September to mark the 80th anniversary of what it officially calls the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. At a banquet hosted by Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, Naruhito hailed the two countries' "deep friendship and cooperation", Tokyo's Kyodo news agency reported AFP
Japan Today
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Japan Today
Emperor meets with Mongolian president to boost democratic ties in authoritarian region
Mongolia's President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, right, receives Japan's Emperor Naruhito during a welcoming ceremony at the Sukhbaatar Square in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on Tuesday. Japan's Emperor Naruhito met with Mongolia's president Tuesday during a visit to the landlocked Asian nation that marks a step toward closer relations between the democracies in a region dominated by Russia and China. Naruhito met with President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh following a welcoming ceremony in the capital Ulaanbaatar on the second day of a weeklong visit. Japan has made a priority of boosting trade with the sprawling nation of 3.5 million, whose resources of coal, copper and other minerals are largely exported to China. 'President Khurelsukh emphasized that the state, government, and people of Mongolia deeply appreciate and are sincerely grateful for the unwavering and heartfelt support provided by the government and people of Japan in consolidating democracy, fostering sustainable social and economic development, and enhancing human resource capacity in Mongolia,' Mongolia's official Montsame news agency reported. Naruhito recalled with fondness his 2007 trip to Mongolia while still a crown prince and said he relished the chance to again 'experience and closely engage with the beautiful nature, history, culture, and traditions of the country and its people,' Montsame reported. In the afternoon, Naruhito and Empress Masako laid flowers at a cenotaph in honor of thousands of Japanese prisoners of World War II who were held under harsh conditions in the country. Naruhito's visit marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the war. One of the first battles of the war was a clash in the summer of 1939 between invading Japanese troops and Soviet forces on the Mongolian frontier in which the Japanese were badly defeated. Japan and the Soviet Union later signed a mutual non-aggression treaty that was abrogated by the Soviets, who poured troops into Mongolia and northern China. In recent years, Naruhito has toured some of the places where the bloodiest battles and bombings of World War II occurred, including Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Hiroshima. The emperor has said it's part of his effort at atonement and remembrance of the tragedy of war fought in the name of his grandfather, Emperor Hirohito. While the vast majority of Japanese prisoners of war were taken to Siberia, around 12,000 to 14,000 ended up in Mongolia, which by the war's end was fighting alongside Russia against Japan. For decades after the war, Mongolia was virtually a Soviet-armed camp trained by China, with most of its people pursuing their traditional herding lifestyle. Since throwing off Communist rule in 1989, Mongolia has built a resilient democracy, seeking to balance economic and political pressures from Beijing and Moscow with strong support from the U.S. and its allies in Asia, including Japan and South Korea. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
