Japanese emperor reconnects with the River Thames in state visit meant to bolster ties with UK [Video]

LONDON – Before Emperor Naruhito of Japan hopped into a horse-drawn carriage with King Charles III, laid a wreath at Westminster Abbey or toured one of Britain’s premier biomedical research institutes, he kicked off his trip to the U.K. by visiting a site that has special meaning for him: The Thames Barrier.

While the massive flood control gates on the River Thames don’t top most lists of must-see tourist sights, the stopover underscored the emperor’s fascination with the waterway that is the throbbing heart of London.

That interest was born 40 years ago when Naruhito studied 18th-century commerce on the river as a graduate student at the University of Oxford. But those two years, chronicled in his memoir “The Thames and I,” also forged a special fondness for Britain and its people. The future emperor got his first chance to live outside the palace walls, marveling at the kindness of strangers who rushed to help when …