Prince Naruhito's visit marks 400 years of Japanese ties with Spain

Crown Prince Naruhito has launched a celebration of Japan's 400-year relationship with Spain on a visit that will take him to a curious town where many residents still carry the name "Japon" to honour the Japanese who visited in the 17th century.

Naruhito, the 53-year-old son and heir of Emperor Akihito, embarked on a week-long visit on Monday, to include formal niceties such as meetings with the Spanish royal family and the opening of a Japan-Spain business co-operation council.

The prince will leave Madrid tomorrow to tour other cities and to visit the small town of Coria del Rio, population about 30,000, not far from the Andalusian capital of Seville in southern Spain.

There, Naruhito will visit a bronze statue of the samurai Hasekura Tsunenaga, who led a historic seven-year diplomatic mission to Europe that departed Japan in October 1613 and arrived in Spain a year later.

Tsunenaga, who was baptised during his time in Spain, travelled to Coria del Rio on the Guadalquivir River, where he stayed for a period. Some of the delegation are believed to have stayed on after his return to Japan in 1620.

Hundreds of residents in Coria del Rio carry the family name "Japon" to mark their supposed Japanese ancestry.