EMPEROR OF JAPAN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20174, 7 February 1929, Page 9

EMPEROR OF JAPAN.

HONOUR FROM KING GEORGE.

DUKE OF GLOUCESTER'S MISSION

Australian Press Association—United Service LONDON, Feb. 5.

The Duke of Gloucester will visit Japan in May in order to bestow upon the Emperor Hirohito, on behalf of King George, the Order of the Garter. The date of the Duke's departure from England lias not yet been decided.

The Tokio correspondent of the Times, writing on November 5, 1928, said: —The announcement of the Royal Mission to Japan to confer the Order of the Garter on the Emperor is welcomed as a graceful compliment on the eve of the Emperor's enthronement, as well as a sign that the traditional friendship betwe_en the two Royal Houses is being continued in the new reign. Prince Tokugawa, President of the House of Peers, in a letter to the Japan Advertiser, gives expression to the pleasure felt in the most influential circles in Japan. He calls King George's act a most important event, which will cement the good relations of the two island Empires, and continues:— Although tho Anglo-Japanese Alliance has ceased to exist as a result of the Washington Conference, its spirit ought never to cease. I always think and hope that not only an Anglo-Japanese alliance, but a triple entente cordiale of England, America) and Japan will be formed, by which means peace in the Orient can be 'secured. lam sure Lord Balfour and Sir Auckland Geddes will not forget what I told them at Washington in 1921. The prominence with which tho news is displayed and the publication of many special articles extolling the age and dignity of tho Order show that the press understands and appreciates King George's action. Official opinion, as summed up by a high authority, is that this is not only a fresh mark of the friendship which has subsisted between the British and Japanese Royal Houses since the overthrow of the Shogun, but a gratifying indication that England's cordiality toward Japan has not diminished.