A Queen and a Princess Make Sweets Together: Japan and Bhutan Mark 40 Years of Ties
Princess Akiko of Mikasa, a second cousin of Japan's Emperor Naruhito, is in Bhutan this week to celebrate 40 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries — and her visit has already produced a striking image: two royals from different worlds, side by side, learning to make Japanese sweets.
King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema of Bhutan welcomed Princess Akiko to Tashichhodzong, a Buddhist monastery that also serves as the seat of Bhutan's government. The fortress-monastery in the capital, Thimphu, is where the king keeps his offices and the country's religious and administrative business converges. Princess Akiko arrived on August 7 and is scheduled to stay through August 14. Town & Country
The centerpiece of the visit so far was a joint engagement between Queen Jetsun Pema and Princess Akiko at a wagashi workshop. Wagashi are traditional Japanese confections, typically shaped by hand from sweetened bean paste and rice dough, and often styled to reflect the seasons. Two chefs from Kyoto Wakuden, a long-established Japanese culinary house, traveled to lead the session.
The workshop was not purely ceremonial. The participants included members of SELWA, an organization that works with people with disabilities to build a more inclusive Bhutan. Queen Jetsun Pema is SELWA's royal patron. The group plans to open a cafe run by youth with disabilities, and the skills from the wagashi workshop are intended to feed directly into what the cafe will offer. Town & Country
Princess Akiko also used the visit to honor victims closer to home. At the Grand Kuenrey — the large assembly hall inside Tashichhodzong — she offered a thousand butterlamps, a Buddhist ritual of light, for those affected by the earthquake that struck Kumamoto Prefecture in Japan on July 28. She prayed for the full recovery of the affected communities. Town & Country
The visit fits a pattern Japan's imperial family has followed since the Reiwa era began in 2019. The Imperial Household Agency, the government body that manages the emperor's official duties, maintains a public list of overseas trips by imperial family members on its website. Princess Akiko's Bhutan trip takes its place in that record.
What gives this visit its particular texture is the blend of formality and something hands-on. A princess from the world's oldest hereditary monarchy and a queen from a young Himalayan dynasty, both rolling up their sleeves over sweet bean paste, is not the image that most people picture when they hear "diplomatic anniversary." The wagashi workshop connected a Japanese culinary tradition to a Bhutanese inclusion project, and the butterlamp offering connected a Bhutanese ritual to a Japanese tragedy. The diplomacy ran through the details.
