Prince Joachim & Princess Marie's Official Visit to Japan: October 29-November 3,2011


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Muhler

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Prince Joachim & Princess Marie's Official Visit to Japan: October 29-November 3,2011

Summary of article in Billed Bladet #25, 2011.
Marie hjælper Droningen - Marie helps the Queen.
Written by Trine Larsen.

In the end of October and beginning of November, our Marie and Joachim will go to Japan, partly to inaugurate and present the exhibition and movie: The Wild Swans, in which QMII made a considerable contribution. Partly also to promote Danish commerce.

The visit was actually scheduled for May, but was postponed due to the tsunami.

M&J now have a considerabe routine in this as they have done something similar before, i.e. combining culture and commerce, in USA, China and Mexico.

(Corrected. Thanks Sternchen).
 
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What about princess Marie?
Does she has her own agenda at this visit?
 
Yes, I was wondering where Marie has been, too. Anybody know? :confused:
 
What about princess Marie?
Does she has her own agenda at this visit?

I read somewhere that our Marie was not supposed to take part in the ceremony in Hiroshima.
I read it some time ago, but I can't remember where.
 
Yes, I was wondering where Marie has been, too. Anybody know? :confused:

Maybe she recovers from the trip - she is as pregnant as Crown Princess Victoria, after all and it's a long flight to Japan, even taking a route over the pole.
 
According to the following article from today, Princess Marie already travelled from Tokyo
to Kyoto while Prince Joachim was in Hiroshima.

So far it seems like a visit with an agenda that's not too crowded, there has not been a
detailed programme released, so I can imagine that there are only a few main events.



** BB: Prins Joachim ærede de døde i Hiroshima ** translated **
 
- As Kataryn pointed out, I too guess the fair Marie needs to put her feet up a bit, as she is pregnant.
I wonder if her hairdresser accompany them? Not unlikely since Joachim, and not least Marie are going to promote Danish fashion. - So fashionable maternity outfits are coming up, ladies. ;)
 
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But the lovely Britt Siesbye is with her
 
I wonder why Marie is going at all, if she goes she should do the full program or be staying at home, what would be prefectly understandable in her condition.
 
I wonder why Marie is going at all, if she goes she should do the full program or be staying at home, what would be prefectly understandable in her condition.

One reason could be that she looks better in dresses than Joachim...:p
One of the main purposes of this visit is to promote Danish fashion.
From a glamourous point of view, a pregnant princess is interesting news.
Another thing is that while Danish commerce worship Joachim, they are just as fond of our Marie, because she provides additional pr just by being there.
J&M is a good team.

She's pregnant which means she can't run at full speed, but that hardly makes her handicapped, so why not go with her husband to Japan?
 
I wonder why Marie is going at all, if she goes she should do the full program or be staying at home, what would be prefectly understandable in her condition.

Maybe she wanted to pick up a couple of comfy kimonos to wear around the house.
 
Im surprised no detailed program has been released, I would've expected one just before the visit as what happens usual.

I don't expect to see Marie at all events that Joachim is attending and vise versa. Past visits and other royals don't attend all events & as Marie is pregnant I would expect her agenda not to be so busy.
 
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Here are the two gettyimages pics without watermarks and some additions:

** Pic 1 ** Pic 2 ** epa/belga gallery **

** bt.dk gallery: Gravide Marie saa paa smykker i Japan **

** Billed-Bladet gallery: Marie Tokyo ** translated BB article **
Prince Joachim has made a visit to a hospital in Tokyo also today, November 2nd.
He inspected the hospital as medicines manufactured in Denmark are used there.
** Pic 1 ** Pic 2 **

Thank you, Iceflower :flowers:

That's what I hoped to see from our Marie.
She looks good in her "work clothes".
 
And now a sweet little story from Japan: Billed-Bladet - Prins Joachim i Japan: Overrasket og rørt

Joachim is patron for the diabetes association and as such he visited the Tokyo Women's Medical Hospital, because insulin is provided by the Danish medical company Novo Nordisk. - In fact if any of you have diabetes it's more than likely your insulin is from Novo Nordisk.
Here he met Mirika Ninoi who hesitantly and shy presented him with a letter, written, somewhat childish, in Danish.
Here Mirika Ninoi tells him about how she had looked forward to meeting him and how she would like to be singer, when she grows up.
Unfortunately that may be unlikely to come true, because diabetes is for whatever reason a tabu in Japan and people with diabetes are stigmatized.
Eight million Japanese have diabetes.

The letter moved and delighted Joachim. (*)

Joachim also met another girl, five years old Maku Ismikawa.
He said in his speech: "Openness and dialogue is important and the best thing is if the school is also open and involve mates and friends, so that all can support the children, so that they don't grow up with the feeling of being outside and different".

(*) That kinds of gifts are the most precious.
One of most treasured things I have, is a car a boy gave my while serving in Croatia. I don't even know his name.
 
Danish Prince Joachim, right, and Princess Marie leave a decoupage workshop after meeting Japanese children from the tsunami-hit areas in northern Japan's Higashimatsushima city, during a workshop in Tokyo, Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011.

dayife pictures


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Thank you, Dazzling :flowers:
We can always count on you to dig up something.

I wonder if anyone has an explanation about the badge Joachim is wearing on his lapel?
 
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I wonder if anyone has an explanation about the badge Joachim is wearing on his lapel?


They've created the badges or "buttons" during that event with the children. Children seem crazy about
button making in many countries, I can tell you a thing or two about it and now have enough for the
rest of my life ;)


** gettyimages gallery **

The bt.dk gallery has been updated with these pics:


** Prinsen og Prinsessen legede med boern **

** sn.dk gallery: Marie og Joachim i Tokyo **

** BB: Prinsesse Marie og prins Joachim omgivet af børn ** translation **

** svenskdam.se: Joachim och Marie har åkt till Japan **


Joachim and Marie also attended an evening reception of the Pandora company.


** Pic ** Prinsesse Marie og prins Joachim nyder Japan ** translation **



And today, November 3, the opening of the The Wild Swans Exhibition took place in
Tokyo. Prince Hitachi and his wife were present as well!


** Pic 1 ** Pic 2 ** Pic 3 ** daylife gallery ** belga gallery **


** Billed-Bladet: Prinsesse Marie åbner De vilde svaner-udstilling i Japan ** translation **
 
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Thanks for the galleries, Iceflower :flowers:

And for the explanation as well. The button-craze doesn't appear to have reached us yet - or I would have known. Oh yes!

I'm pleased to see that Joachim and our Marie get a good deal of coverage. I feared they would be forgotten with the event at UNICEF.
I should like to know what the japanese press has to say.
 
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And for the explanation as well. The button-craze doesn't appear to have reached us yet - or I would have known. Oh yes!

Let this cup pass from you.. ;)



Prince Joachim and Princess Marie made a visit to the Aoyama Andersen bakery store in Tokyo Friday, November 4, 2011.



** Pic 1 ** Pic 2 ** Pic 3 ** Pic 4 ** Pic 5 ** Pic 6 ** Pic 7 ** daylife gallery **


And have been received by Japanese Empress Michiko at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.


** Pic 1 ** Pic 2 **
 
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very brave of marie to fly such a long distance being in her last months of pregnancy!
 
Here are some nice additional shots of the attended events in Japan:




** Pic 1 ** Pic 2 ** Pic 3 ** Pic 4 ** Pic 5 ** Pic 6 ** Pic 7 ** Pic 8 **

** Pic 9 ** Pic 10 ** Pic 11 ** Pic 12 ** Pic 13 ** Pic 14 ** gallery **

** BB gallery: Marie og Joachims rejse i billeder **



On the last day of their visit the couple presented the Danish Trade Council Award and the
Prince Henrik's Medal of Honour for Nordic Feeling:


** Pic 1 ** Pic 2 ** Pic 3 ** Pic 4 ** Pic 5 **


** Lite fler bilder från Joachims och Maries Japan-resa **
 
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Summary of articles in Billed Bladet #44 & 45, 2011.
All written by our correspondent in Japan Trine Larsen. (*)

Arrival and Hiroshima.
Joachim and our Marie arrived in Japan Sunday and while Marie and her LiW, Britt Siesbye, went straight to Kyoto to rest, Joachim went to Hiroshima.
Here he laid down a simple wreath in red and white with the inscription Prince Joachim, Princess Marie.
Joachim did not hide the fact that the visit made him ponder deeply and moved him deeply as well, not least after visiting the museum.
Marie remained in Tokyo in order to spare her considering the long flight and her pregnancy.
While in Hiroshima Joachim visited the Andersen Bakery, which was founded here in 1963 by Shunsuke Takaki. From here Danish pastry (**) is sold. The bakery has now evolved into an empire with 500 bakeries all over Japan.
Shunsuke Takaki was made Knight of Dannebrog and a consul and upon his death the title of consul was bestowed on his sin, Sciicho Takaki.
Over the years the Takaki family has gotten to know the DRF well, so for Joachim it was a reunion.

Kyoto.
Upon returning to Kyoto, Joachim and la belle Marie had some time to admire the city.

Workshop for children in Shibuya-Ku in Tokyo.
A Danish bank has set up that workshop and it’s aimed at children from Higashi-Matsushima, which was one of the most devastated areas after the earthquake in February. Present on the day J&M arrived were 40 children, busy toiling away making decoupages. All very quiet and well behaved. Something Joachim and Marie in particular quickly put an end to. They interacted, chatted and had fun with the children and in a short while the children were just as talkative as children everywhere else.
However the children are still dealing with the psychological aftermath of the quake.
Joachim appears to have inherited a good deal of his parent’s artistic talents and he was busy creating a neat decoupage. A talent the fair Marie seems not to have. She admitted freely: “I’m not so good at it. Joachim is much better than me. He is far more artistically disposed”, so she devoted more effort in interacting with the children around her. Not least in encouraging the artwork of nine years old Ai Koyama, who sat next to her.
Joachim said afterwards: “It has been a really, really good experience. And it’s a good idea to take the children away from a presumably bleak everyday-life with those traumas and nasty experiences which is connected to them being at home and to give them an experience like this. Just the fact that they probably for the first time ever are away from home and experience something different, is a part of giving them courage and hope. They get away and into a new universe where the imagination is allowed to play and they are allowed to have a good time. They were certainly very preoccupied”.
Joachim was by then still in possession of the decoupage he had made and despite claiming that it had no value, he nevertheless refused to accept a bid for 100 DKK for the work from the reporter Trine Larsen: “It’ll need more zeros behind (that figure) otherwise I won’t sell”. (***)

The exhibition of The Wild Swans in Tokyo.
That was the official reason for J&M to go to Japan, in reality it was just as much about promoting Danish commerce, not least in respect to rebuilding the areas affected by the earthquake in February. You may recall that Frederik was also accompanied by representatives from Danish commerce when he visited Japan shortly after.
At the exhibition it was Joachim and Marie who were hosts and the guests of honor was the brother to the Emperor, Prince Masahito Hitachi and his wife, Princess Hanako Tsugaru. Alas Prince Hitachi’s health is frail and he is rarely on the job these days.
However he gave a very moving speech, where he thanked Denmark for the support after the earthquake

Tokyo Women’s Medical Hospital.
See this post: http://www.theroyalforums.com/forum...ct-29th-nov-3rd-2011-a-31344.html#post1333304

Andersen Bakery in Tokyo.
J&M visited the first Anderson Bakery that was opened in Tokyo and they are promoting Danish specialties like Danish sandwiches (****) and M&J sampled the sandwiches. You may have seen the pics of Joachim in the process of putting the sandwich in his mouth, something you don’t normally take pictures of. Oh well…
(The sandwiches incidentally were very small in my opinion. They were the size of those you can buy three of for 25 DKK in most supermarkets. Take away sandwiches are more than twice as big – they calculate with three such sandwiches for each adult male by the way. And those you order at sandwich restaurants are at least three times as big!)
Anyway, Joachim commended the sandwiches as being very authentic and tasting like those at home.

The Danish embassy.
Here J&M presented a diploma from Danish Export Council and the Prince Henrik Honorary Medal to two representatives, Akiko Ogawa and Hiromitsu Endo, from a Japanese firm called I next Generation. No problem, except for the official photograph where Joachim noticed that Mrs. Ogawa held the diploma upside down. That was corrected to everyone’s amusement.

Trivia.
Marie told our reporter how bette Henrik is doing: “He’s fresh and well again”.
Trine Larsen observed:
That Marie clearly missed her son and that she a number of times stopped to go and say hello to Japanese children at about bette Henrik’s age.
That she was dedicated and didn’t seem tired nor troubled by the schedule, despite being pregnant and wearing high heels.
That Joachim and his Marie love each other, savoring the odd quiet moments together when not walking hand in hand.
During the train ride from Hiroshima to Tokyo Mount Fuji made a splendor of itself, bathed in the light from the sun.
The DRF apparently has a very good reputation in Japan, not least perhaps because Frederik was the first royal at all… to visit the disaster stricken areas after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan earlier this year.

On the last day of the visit Joachim and Marie visited the Emperial Couple’s private home in Tokyo and here they were met in the afternoon by Empress Michiko. Her husband Emperor Akihito had fallen ill that same morning. (I’ve since learned that he was committed to hospital).
It’s unusual that visitors are received in the private residence.
Despite being seven months pregnant Marie managed a very deep curtsey.
The three of them spend a couple of hour together. (*****)

(*) Who has developed into a really good royal reporter in respect to get the royals to open up.

(**) It’s not called Danish at all in DK. Here we call it wienerbrød = bread from Vienna.

(***) This is where Trine Larsen is at her best. Even though it’s not unusual that royal reporters develop something bordering on friendship with the royals, it’s not many who have established a personal rapport with Joachim.

(****) Known as smorgasbord in English, except that smorgas is Swedish. It’s called smørrebrød in Danish, but you’d be forgiven for not attempting to pronounce that.

(*****) This is a part of the protocol. When royal visit another monarchy in an official capacity they always say hello to the resident family. Everything else would be an affront.
 
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They look like a great couple and represent Denmark beautifully, you Danes can be proud of them.:flowers:
 
I'm a bit surprised that Marie went to Japan. When is she due again? I hope her condition was taken into account meaning she has had enough time to rest. As silly as it seems, I'm also a bit worried since Japan isn't perhaps the best place to be for pregnant women at the moment. Well, it does depend on where you visit of course. Brave of her to travel such a long way!
 
They've created the badges or "buttons" during that event with the children. Children seem crazy about
button making in many countries, I can tell you a thing or two about it and now have enough for the
rest of my life ;)


** gettyimages gallery **

The bt.dk gallery has been updated with these pics:


** Prinsen og Prinsessen legede med boern **

** sn.dk gallery: Marie og Joachim i Tokyo **

** BB: Prinsesse Marie og prins Joachim omgivet af børn ** translation **

** svenskdam.se: Joachim och Marie har åkt till Japan **


Joachim and Marie also attended an evening reception of the Pandora company.


** Pic ** Prinsesse Marie og prins Joachim nyder Japan ** translation **



And today, November 3, the opening of the The Wild Swans Exhibition took place in
Tokyo. Prince Hitachi and his wife were present as well!


** Pic 1 ** Pic 2 ** Pic 3 ** daylife gallery ** belga gallery **


** Billed-Bladet: Prinsesse Marie åbner De vilde svaner-udstilling i Japan ** translation **

I love the black and lace dress. Very elegant and sexy indeed.
 
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