Princess Tsuguko, Japanese Princess in Sri Lanka

Princess Tsuguko at the Airport today

Princess Tsuguko of Takamado, the eldest daughter of Japanese Prince Takamado  arrives in Sri Lanka on a four-day visit from August 19 to 23 in response to an invitation extended by President Mahinda Rajapaksa and First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa during the latter's visit to Japan in March this year.Princess Tsuguko was born on March 8, 1986 to Prince and Princess Takamado and celebrated her coming of age in March 2006. After studying at the University of Edinburgh, Princess Tsuguko returned to Japan in 2008. In March 2013, she graduated from the School of International Liberal Studies, Waseda University and is presently attached to the Japan Committee for UNICEF, but attends ceremonies and functions at the Imperial Palace and other official events.

Her grandfather, Prince Takahito of Mikasa visited Sri Lanka in 1956 and was gifted with a baby elephant by then Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranayake, which was subsequently donated to the TAMA Zoological Park in Tokyo. President Rajapaksa donated two more baby elephants to the same zoological park during his official visit to Japan in March this year in the presence of Princess Tsuguko. Thereafter, the Sri Lankan government invited her to visit Sri Lanka.Princess Tsuguko will visit the Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy and the Sri Mahabhodhi at Anuradhapura.

She will also pay a courtesy call on President Rajapaksa at the President's House in Kandy. Princess Tsuguko will also meet the Diyadana Nilame of the Sri Dalada Maligawa Nilanga Dela and view the Sri Dalada Perehera. She will tour some of the UNESCO World Heritage sites and other sites of historical importance in Sri Lanka, the botanical gardens at Peradeniya and engage in a tour of a National Park to view elephants prior to her on August 23.