By Madel Sabater – Namit, Roy C. Mabasa, and AP President Aquino laid out a red-carpet welcome to Japan’s emperor and empress Wednesday, including full State Honors, in a sign of the blossoming ties of the Asian nations territorially at odds with China while further moving past painful memories of Japan’s World War II aggression. Emperor Akihito wore a black suit and tie while Empress Michiko was in a white terno and a hat. President Aquino, who wore a barong Tagalog, was accompanied by his sister Aurora Corazon “Pinky” Abellada, who wore a Filipiniana terno, in welcoming the Imperial couple. THEN AND NOW – As he did in his last visit to the country as Japan’s Crown Prince 52 years ago – seen in this copy of the Manila Bulletin’s November 7, 1962 issue. Among the Cabinet secretaries who were in the Palace grounds to welcome the Imperial couple were [...]
