TOKYO - Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako will visit Britain at the end of June, spending three days as guests of King Charles III, Buckingham Palace confirmed on Tuesday.
The royal couple is due to arrive on June 22, but will spend the first three days in private engagements before beginning the official state visit, which will run from June 25 to 27.
Naruhito will meet Charles and his wife Queen Camilla as well as the monarch's elder son and heir Prince William and other British royals in the first Japanese state visit to the UK in more than two decades.
A palace spokesman said the programme had been "slightly adapted" because of the upcoming general election on July 4, without going into exact details.
Visiting heads of state have typically held talks with the prime minister and opposition leader, or addressed lawmakers in parliament.
But parliament has been dissolved and there are no MPs, while the government -- both ministers and civil servants -- are in the pre-election period, with restrictions on what they can do.
The packed schedule does include a Guard of Honour ceremony, a carriage procession at Buckingham Palace, visits to museums and to the Francis Crick Institute, a biomedical research centre in London.
On June 25, a state banquet will be given by the king at Buckingham Palace in honour of the emperor and empress, with speeches made by the two male monarchs.
The emperor will also go to Windsor Castle west of London on the third day of the state visit to lay a wreath on the tomb of Queen Elizabeth II, whose state funeral he and the empress attended in September 2022 in their last visit to the UK.