• Prince and Princess Akishino.

By STEPHEN KAPAMBWE –

IT is good for Zambia to receive high profile visits, one after another, from influential countries especially during this year when the country is marking its golden jubilee of independence, observed Japanese embassy Deputy Chief of Mission in Lusaka Hideki Yamaji.
This was when Counsellor Yamaji briefed journalists about Prince and Princess Akishino of Japan who arrive in Zambia today for a five-day visit.
The couple, who would be in the country barely a week after another high profile visit by Chinese Vice-President Li Yuanchao, arrive in the country to commemorate Zambia’s golden jubilee of independence.
The visit of the future Japanese Emperor and Empress is also meant to toast the 50th anniversary of Zambia-Japan diplomatic relations.
Interestingly, Zambia’s Independence Day on 24th October, 1964 fell on the final day of the 1964 Olympic Games which were hosted by the city of Tokyo in Japan.
The day became memorable for the newly born country as the Zambian national flag was for the very first time paraded outside the country at the closing ceremony of the games.
Their Highnesses Prince and Princess Akishino are following the tradition of Their Majesties the Japanese Emperor and Empress who visited Zambia in 1983 when they were Crown Prince and Crown Princess.
That visit was later followed by that of Prince and Princess Takamado who visited Zambia in 1999.
Zambia has also reciprocated through visits to Japan of the then Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda who visited Japan in 1980 as a State guest. Dr Kaunda visited Japan again in November 1990 and after leaving public office in July, 2005.
Zambian Second Republican President Frederick Chiluba also visited Japan in 2000. This was followed by the visit of Zambian third Republican President Levy Mwanawasa in 2003, in 2005 and in 2008.
The last high profile visit was that of President Michael Sata who visited Japan with First Lady Christine Kaseba in June, 2013.
According to The Imperial Household Agency, His Imperial Highness was conferred the title of Prince Akishino by His Majesty The Emperor upon his marriage on June 29, 1990. Prince and Princess Akishino attend various court ceremonies including New Year’s celebrations, as well as other court functions held at the Imperial Palace.
Prince and Princess Akishino also attend a wide variety of official events around Japan, among them the Sea festival, the National High School Horse Riding competition, the National Cultural festivals for senior high schools, the Fukuoka Prize Award ceremony, the National Sports festival and the National Urban Greenery Fairs.
On such occasions, Their Imperial Highnesses take the opportunity to visit different regions of Japan.
As part of their official activities at their residence, the royal couple host visitors from Japan and overseas, as well as distinguished experts in various fields and trainee groups from overseas.
The Prince and Princess have also made official visits to many countries where they represent Japan mostly at celebrations to mark anniversaries of relations between those countries and Japan.
Among recent visits, the Prince and Princess travelled to Austria, Bulgaria and Hungary and Netherlands.
They also visited Costa Rica, and were in Uganda to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Uganda.
Besides attending to his official activities, Prince Akishino conducts scientific research on the domestication of chickens. The main focus of his research is the process of domestication of chickens; namely, how chickens coexist with humans and the factors in the breeding of varieties once chickens are domesticated.
In September 1996, the Graduate University for Advanced Studies conferred a PhD degree in science on him for his thesis on the origins of chickens and their domestication.
In addition to this research which is based in Japan, Prince Akishino has made visits to many countries, like Thailand and Madagascar in connection with his research. He also visited Vietnam.
The Prince also does research on fisheries and has visited many countries in the course of research on fisheries and on the domestication of chickens, and has published the results of research in a number of academic papers.
He has received honorary doctorates from the following universities in recognition of his contribution to the promotion of fisheries and poultry science in Thailand: Kasetsart University (Science [Fishery Biology], September 1995); Burapha University (Science, September 1995); Khon Kaen University (Science [Fisheries], July 1999); Srinakharinwirot University (Science, August 2001); Chulalongkorn University (Science, August 2001); Ubon Ratchathani University Science (Agriculture), August 2003); King Mongkut’s University of Technology (Science (Fisheries], March 2007); Kasetsat University (Science [Animal Science], March 2011), Chiang Mai University (Arts (Human and Environment Management), March 2011) and Thammasat University (Science, [Agricultural Technology], November 2012).
Besides performing official duties and public activities alongside the Prince, Princess Akishino has been Patroness of the Japan Anti-Tuberculosis Association (JATA) since April, 1994.
She is also the President of the Imperial Gift Foundation Boshi-Aiiku-Kai, and is an Honorary Vice-President of the Japanese Red Cross Society.
Princess Akishino has also mastered sign language as an important means of communication with persons with speech and hearing impairments.
In March 1995, Princess Akishino received a master’s degree in psychology. She also has a strong interest in supporting female researchers who restart researches after childbirth and child care, and attends presentations by researchers supported by “Research Fellowship for Young Scientists – Restarted Post-Doctoral Fellowship”
of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. She conducts research in health care, and was nominated as the Honorary Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science in February 2009.
In March 2013, she was granted a PhD in psychology at the Graduate School of Humanities and Sciences, Ochanomizu University, for her thesis titled “Knowledge, perceptions, beliefs and behaviours related to tuberculosis.
Prince and Princess Akishino have three children, Princess Mako, who at the age of 20 was conferred with the honour of Grand Cordon of the Order of Precious Crown in October 2011, Princess Kako, who is an undergraduate in the Department of Education, Faculty of Letters,  Gakushuin University, and Prince Hisahito who is attending Ochanomizu University Elementary School.
The couple which arrives on Saturday is expected to visit Kabwata cultural village. They will later on in the evening attend a dinner banquet hosted by Japanese Ambassador to Zambia Kiyoshi Koinuma.
On Sunday, the couple will travel to Livingstone where they will visit the Livingstone Museum. After that they are expected to view one of the Seven Wonders of the World – Victoria Falls. They will also visit the famous Baobab Tree and the Mosi-oa-Tunya national park.
On Monday morning, the couple will go bird watching before leaving Livingstone for Lusaka.
The programme in Lusaka involves a visit to the Freedom Statue, and later on a dinner banquet to be hosted by the Zambian Government.
Prince and Princess Akishino will Tuesday visit the University of Zambia, the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) and also pay a courtesy call on First Republican President Dr Kenneth Kaunda. Later on, they will visit Mount Makulu Clinic in Chilanga before attending a reception for the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Zambia and Japan where former freedom fighters would be in attendance.
This would mark the end of the royal visit.
Since independence in 1964, Zambia – on one hand, has contributed greatly to political liberation and stability in Southern Africa, while Japan – on the other hand, has played an instrumental role in assisting with Zambia’s economic and social development.
Initially, relations between the two countries were limited to trade, mostly the export of copper and cobalt from Zambia to Japan and the import of machinery and motor vehicles from Japan to Zambia.
But the two countries have over the years developed bilateral relations which have continued to expand to various fields of cooperation in the international arena and academic, cultural and sports exchanges.
Since then, the two countries have made notable achievements. Both countries have recorded an increase in the volume of trade which in 2012 showed exports from Zambia to Japan, comprised mostly of cobalt, tobacco and refined copper, rising to approximately K2,235 million. In the same year, exports from Japan to Zambia, mainly cars, car-parts and machinery, rose to K6, 554 million.
By March, 2011, the total volume of Japanese official development assistance to Zambia stood approximately at K11, 995 million. Zambia also has been a recipient of an additional K16 million worth of cultural grant aid projects from Japan. They include the $8.7 million ground water development in Luapula Province and various roads
projects in Lusaka Province.
Japan has also spent US$27 million on the city roads project in Ndola and Kitwe, US$34.5 million on Lusaka City inner roads project, US$35.6 million on the Kazungula bridge project, and $48 million on the increased access to electricity services in Zambia.
In addition, Japan has spent US$26 million on water improvement for Ndola, US$2 million on vaccines supply and cold chain development as well as US$19 million on upgrading health and district hospitals in Lusaka.
Technical cooperation projects in community based small holder irrigation initiative, the rural extension service capacity advancement, the food crop diversification support project (focusing on rice production), various projects aimed at upgrading the UTH, energy formulation strategies and the one-village one-product initiative are among other interventions Japan is helping Zambia to implement.
The projects include poverty reduction strategies and the national Kaizen initiative which started in 2013.
By October, 2013, Japan provided 1,295 volunteers to Zambia to help in implementation of various projects, while the total number of Japanese trainees sent to Zambia through the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) stood at 2,873 by March 2012.
By April, 2013, Zambia benefited from a training programme involving 36 Japanese scholarships for Zambian students.
It is expected that the visit by Their Imperial Highnesses Prince and Princess Akishino will not only deepen the cordial relations Zambian and Japan have enjoyed in the last 50 years but also provide renewed commitment for the two countries to broaden these relations in the next 50 years.