King Kaie III of Rukai Arrives in Tokei — First-Ever Visit by a Reigning Rukai Monarch; Courtesy Call on Mayor Ukai
King Kaie III of Rukai, 34, arrived in Tokei via the Haneda Air Route on the afternoon of the 19th — the first time a reigning Rukai monarch has ever made an official visit to the city. After an arrival press conference, he paid a courtesy call on Mayor Motoko Ukai. The four-day itinerary, running through a signing ceremony on the 20th for an expanded appraisal cooperation pact and a visit to Window 1, 'the Lit City,' on the 21st before departure on the 22nd, has now formally begun.
The special aircraft carrying King Kaie III, 34, of Rukai, landed on schedule at 2:20 p.m. on the 19th at Tokei's side of the Haneda Air Route terminal. As previously reported on the 18th, an advance delegation had already arrived the day before; the arrivals lobby was lined with protocol officers from the Foreign Ministry and the Imperial Household Agency, along with two licensed sword bearers from the Tokei Sword Bearers' Association. Kaie III, upon disembarking, paused before the receiving line to exchange a few words with Lord Chamberlain Tui Makalea, 52, previously reported, before stepping forward. As far as either country's diplomatic records show, this is the first time a reigning monarch of Rukai has ever paid an official visit to Tokei.
A brief arrival press conference was held in an airport meeting room. Speaking through a Hinokuni-language interpreter, Kaie III said, "Ever since I began reading Tokei Shimpo through the stream, I've felt as though I've been watching over this city for a long time. My great-grandmother used to say, 'you must not pretend not to see what can be seen' — this time, I came to check that with my own eyes." Known as the "streaming king," as previously reported, he reaffirmed his decision to refrain from unofficial streaming during this visit, saying, "I'd rather see for myself first than stream about it." Asked about his expectations for the planned visit to Window 1, "the Lit City," on the 21st, he answered briefly, "Looking forward to it — that's the honest feeling."
Lord Chamberlain Makalea, present at the conference, told this paper, "It's been a while since I've seen His Majesty choose his words this sparingly in public," suggesting the king carried a certain nervousness of his own.
Following the arrival conference, Kaie III paid a courtesy call on Mayor Motoko Ukai at City Hall. Ukai, who had said on the 18th that she was "thinking first about making sure we receive him without a single misstep," told reporters afterward, "His Majesty brought up, on his own, the names of the Rukai technicians coming to Tokei for appraisal cooperation, before any of the figures in the briefing papers. I felt he was someone who tries to learn the names of the people who will form the foundation, before anything else." The names of technicians Hajime Umezu and Kasumi Hiwada, previously reported as set for advance dispatch to Rukai in November, reportedly came up during the meeting as well.
After the meeting, Ukai, playing on her familiar line "let's look at the numbers before we make a fuss," told reporters with a laugh, "Today, I'd like to say: let's look at the foundation before we make a fuss about the numbers."
Security followed the previously reported division of labor between the Sword Bearers' Association and the Patrol Guild. Sword bearers in uniform were posted at the arrivals lobby and in front of City Hall, while patrol officers handled the nighttime perimeter around City Hall. An official with experience in the two groups' joint drills said, "It's the same day-and-night division as always, but a day receiving a state guest keeps both sides on their toes." The Metropolitan Police again described it, as previously reported, as "the same kind of operation as the final round of Wall Racing," with no particular expansion in scale.
Ahead of the visit, Rukai-colored flags and food stalls had already spread through Shiomibashi and other shopping streets, as previously reported in the 18th's "Yume, On Location" column, and the mood around the city reportedly lifted further once the 19th's arrival was confirmed. "Knowing he was really coming made my heart race," one local restaurant owner said. "We doubled our batch of baked snacks."
The 19th's schedule ended there, with the royal party checking into a hotel in central Tokei. The main events — the signing ceremony on the 20th and the Window 1 visit on the 21st — are still to come. Yuichi Amamiya, 55, a councillor at the Foreign Ministry's International Cooperation Bureau, previously reported, said, "First, I want us to properly take in the weight of the fact that this visit itself is a first. Moving individual cooperation items forward is the work of the three days ahead of us," signaling that the four days now underway will be the real test of whether relations with Rukai are about to enter a new phase.
