Скачать или смотреть UK: JAPANESE EMPEROR AKIHITO VISITS LONDON ZOO

(30 May 1998) Natural Sound

To cap off a state visit clouded by protests from former World War II prisoners, Japan's Emperor Akihito spent part of Friday indulging in his personal passion - fish.

The emperor visited the aquarium at London Zoo where he met people who share his enthusiasm for the study of Gobi fish.

It was the one part of Emperor Akihito's visit characterised by waves and smiles.

Akihito's state visit to the U-K has been dogged by former World War II prisoners demanding Japan apologise for brutal treatment they suffered.

But on the last day of his visit, he was able to find refuge in the undersea world at London Zoo.

Emperor Akihito himself looked highly pleased - being a part-time marine biologist, he clearly enjoyed observing a British collection of Gobi fish.

Akihito spends much of his spare time studying and publishing academic papers about this particular type of fish which is particularly common around Japan.

British experts on Gobies were on hand at the zoo aquarium to show the emperor around.

They showed the monarch four species from British waters which he said he had never encountered before.

Looking through the glass of the tank, Akihito was clearly animated as he spotted
the "new" fish.

The Emperor's trip - at the invitation of Queen Elizabeth the Second - has stirred controversy among former internees of Japanese prisoner of war camps.

Former PoWs and civilian internees want a full apology for their treatment during the Second World War, during which a third of all P-O-Ws of the Japanese died.

And almost anywhere Akihito went, he encountered jeering and chanting demonstrators.

Their ritual of turning their backs and whistling Colonel Bogey - associated with the film The Bridge on the River Kwai - focused attention on their grievances.

But there were no such scenes at London Zoo - here the crowds of children who had gathered outside had nothing but smiles and waves for the Japanese emperor.

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