Japan's Emperor, Empress watch Mongolian horse race
Japan's Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako watched a horse race in Mongolia held as part of the country's traditional Naadam festival on Saturday morning.
At the Khui Doloon Khudag horse race venue, approximately 40 kilometres west of the city centre of Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, the Japanese Imperial couple were welcomed by Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh and his wife.
They chatted inside a ger, a Mongolian portable home, before coming outside to watch the race of 5-year-old horses in the open grass field.
Over 100 horses mounted by children competed in the roughly 22-kilometre race. The Emperor and the Empress used binoculars to watch the horses dashing through the grassland.
In the afternoon, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako visited Hustai National Park, located about 100 kilometres west of central Ulaanbaatar. The park is home to the Przewalski's horse, a Mongolian wild horse.
The Emperor and the Empress, now on a state visit to Mongolia, are slated to return home Sunday.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
