Music and Culture in Italy for the Imperial Visitors!

Yesterday, Their Imperial Highnesses, Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko of Japan continued their visit to Italy in connection with the 150th Anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Italy with a round of cultural engagements when they visited the city of Bologna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy.

The visit started at the International Museum and Library of Music at Palazzo Sanguinity, where the Prince and Princess were greeted by the Mayor of Bologna, Virginio Merola, along with the Manager of Municipality Museums and the Curator of the Museum of Music. A chamber concert orchestra delighted the royal couple with a short performance.

Later on, the couple visited University of Bologna, founded in 1088 and the oldest university in the world.  Here they met with the Rector of the Alma Mater Studiorum, Francesco Ubertini and Alessandra Scagliarini who is the Vice Rector for International Relations. During the visit, Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko spent time meeting with students to talk about their various studies.

The cultural elements of the Italian tour continued with a visit to the Museum of Palazzo Poggi, which forms part of the University of Bologna, and holds a number of fascinating collections on natural history, anatomy, physics and chemistry to name but a few.

The Imperial Family are known to have a great interest and love of wildlife – Prince Akishino himself has a PhD degree in ornithology – and so it is no surprise that during the visit to Bologna, a trip to the Zoological Museum and the Botanical Garden and Herbarium  were included too!

Filed under Japan
Tagged Bilateral Relations, Culture, Italy, Music, Official Visit, Prince Akishino of Japan, Princess Kiko of Japan.