Overview
- The 23-year-old traveled on commercial flights via Bangkok and reached Vientiane on Monday for a six-day stay, with a planned return to Tokyo on Saturday.
- She is scheduled Tuesday to pay a courtesy call on President Thongloun Sisoulith, followed by a state banquet hosted by Vice President Pany Yathotou.
- Planned stops include the Patuxai war monument, the COPE Visitor Center focused on unexploded ordnance, and an observation of a Japanese-language class.
- A day trip by train to Luang Prabang will feature the national museum, Wat Xieng Thong, a meeting with a local ruling-party secretary, and a children’s hospital built with Japanese aid.
- The visit reflects Japan–Laos relations shaped by decades of JICA-backed development and UXO rehabilitation efforts, as Aiko advances the imperial family’s soft-diplomacy role alongside her Japanese Red Cross work.