Jubilee visitors

Host: Actually, England is but one part of the United Kingdom - not the other way around.

Aki: Heeeeeeeeeh!

Who are the Japanese entourage? Japanese Secret Service, Captain?, flight attendant?

And now we are going to go through immigration, Your Highness. It will only take 2 hours.

Wow, that's one rather apprehensive and uncomfortable group of people right there. Do these guys get out much? Looks to me as though the whole thing is a hell of a strain on one and all.

The Emperor always looks like such a happy guy.

The Emperor always looks like such a happy guy.

I was about to say the exact same thing. Its refreshing to see... unlike some other royalty these days ><

The J-dude 2nd from left, is he talking into his wrist radio(haha) or just lighting up a smoke after that long haul....

My bet is on the later LOL!

For royalty the emperor really could have had his jacket ironed for the occasion.

The man in uniform looks like a JMSDF officer. From the braiding on the hat, he is an Admiral.

Lovely to see the Empress holding her husband's arm. So nice.

Old Liz the 2nd seems a lot more spritely and healthy than Old Aki - and she is about 10 years his senior. Maybe that English tea is healthier than the Japanese stuff?!

This jubilee is a really big event. My English friend in the US scheduled his annual trip back home early to avoid this and the Olympics.

A beautiful mind

Empress Michiko speaks eigo ... wonder if Emperor Akihito does too!? ;)

I wish the IHA would let the Empress wear some color. Queen Elizabeth wears a lot of bright coloured (lol english english spellling) dresses and hats.

A gathering of the undeserving congratulating each other on years of being rich for doing nothing. Wave to the masses, pick their pockets.

The Admiral: What are you looking at?

If people do not recall the Emperor was present at the Queen's coronation when he was Crown Prince 60 years ago. He was Japan's representative to the coronation and met with Churchill back in 52'. He helped to ease some of the the tensions between Japan and GB following WWII.

It's great to see him healthy again and able to attend the Queen's jubilee.

Congratulations to the Queen!

The Emperor and Empress are looking well.

Do these people get out much?

No. The majority of the emperors requests are rejected by the Imperial Household Agency. These state visits are really the only time they get to be in public. Otherwise their lives are pretty much controlled by the bureaucracy of the agency.

A very sad way to live, so many examples of Royalty being both revered and human to follow their dreams, inspiring the people but we get this..a government body controlling every aspect of these poor people's lives. Not able to have any zing, I really do feel sorry for them and most of their surfs (subjects)

They will be meeting other such great leaders whilst in the UK. Leaders such as the King of Bahrain, Hamad al-Khalifa, whose regime brutally suppressed pro-democracy protests last year. Then they could make small talk with the monarchs of countries such as Brunei, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Swaziland and United Arab Emirates. All eight royal families preside over a variety of human rights abuses, such as detention without trial, torture, the denial of free speech, restrictions on press freedom, discrimination against women, oppression of minority faiths, homophobic persecution, ill-treatment of guest workers and the violent suppression of peaceful protests. All this at the expense of the British taxpayer.

Other crown princesses and queens have freedoms that Japanese royals can only dream of. They go on domestic and international trips with or without their husbands. In contrast, the Japanese royal ladies are meant to be submissive, decorative, and silent.

the british royal family generates billions for the british government.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhyYgnhhKFw

Nice to see the Emperor looking rather well.

Hope they enjoy they're stay in UK and that they didn't get held up in immigration for 10 odd hours!