These two major events paved the way for the six-day visit of the Emperor and Empress of Japan which began from Saturday the November 30.

Tenno Heika in Japanese for His Majesty Emperor is visiting the country after a gap of 53 years. Emperor Kinjo Akihito visited India as Crown Price alongwith Crown Princess in 1960. His posthumous name is likely to be Emperor Heisei.

As the visit of the Emperor and the Empress is of “high symbolism” no agreements will be signed between the two countries during their stay. But as the Emperor is very keen on education, he is likely to discuss the prospects of the revival of ancient Buddhist centre of learning, Nalanda University and Bhuddist toursist circuit when meets the Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on December 2.

After their arrival on Saturday the November 30, the Emperor and Empress will be taking a walk in Lodhi Garden here on Sunday.

On December 2, which is Monday the main day of engagement, there would be the ceremonial welcome for the Japanese Emperor and Empress at Rashtrapati Bhavan (Presidential Palace). Then they would pay their respects at the Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi at Raj Ghat. Thereafter there will be a meeting with the Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.

The Emperor and the Empress wil visit to the Jawaharlal Nehru University. And finally that day the main event will be the meeting with President Pranab Mukherjee followed by the customary banquet, which is very traditional for a state visit, followed by the farewell tete-a-tete.

On Tuesday the Emperor and Empress will visit India International Centre. This is quite significant also because Their Majesties had laid the foundation stone sixty years ago. Thereafter, their next two engagements are two calls on at the hotel, the first by the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and the second by the Vice-President of India Hamid Ansari.

The Emperor and the Empress will visit a Japanese school at Vasant Kunj. Besides there will be a number of private engagements

On Wednesday the Emperor and Empress will emplane for Chennai. to visit the Kalakshetra Foundation.

On Thursday they would be visiting the Children’s Park at the Guindy National Park in Chennai. The Governor of Tamil Nadu will host a lunch in their honour.

After the lunch and some downtime, the Emperor and Empress will visit the Spastic Society of Tamil Nadu, and round up their visit with a couple of private engagements in the hotel where they will meet representatives of Japanese expatriates in Chennai. They would be emplaning for Tokyo on the night of December 5.