Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko met people with connection to Japan on November 4 during visit to Turkey.

The imperial couple thanked an emergency rescue team captain, who conducted search operations in Miyagi Prefecture for around 3 weeks during the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.

They expressed their condolences for the Turkey-Syria earthquake that occurred in February last year.

The crown prince and crown princess also visited Ankara University, where they talked with students involved in Japanese culture clubs.

They discussed traditional Japanese calligraphy and origami among other topics in Japanese.

The calligraphy included kanji characters for catfish and dragonfly that are respectively associated with the crown prince and his son Prince Hisahito’s research studies.

The crown prince thanked the students for thinking so much about what to prepare.

The imperial couple met with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan later that day to mark the 100th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Turkey.