Serial no. Date (Year) Country Purpose 1 26 September – 6 October (1991) Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia "To foster friendly relations at the invitation of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia" 2 23 October – 28 October (1992) China "To foster friendly relations at the invitation of China" 3 6 August – 9 August (1993) Belgium "To attend the funeral ceremony of King Baudouin of Belgium" 4 3 September – 19 September (1993) Italy, Belgium, Germany "To foster friendly relations at the invitation of Italy, Belgium and Germany (Visit to the Vatican City)" 5 10 June – 26 June (1994) United States "To foster friendly relations at the invitation of the United States" 6 2 October – 14 October (1994) France, Spain "To foster friendly relations at the invitation of France and Spain" 7 30 May – 13 June (1997) Brazil, Argentina "To foster friendly relations at the invitation of Brazil and Argentina" 8 23 May – 5 June (1998) United Kingdom, Denmark "To foster friendly relations at the invitation of the United Kingdom and Denmark" 9 20 May – 1 June (2000) Netherlands, Sweden "To foster friendly relations at the invitation of the Netherlands and Sweden" 10 6 July – 20 July (2002) Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary "To foster friendly relations at the invitation of Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary" 11 7 May – 14 May (2005) Norway "To foster friendly relations at the invitation of Norway" 12 27 June – 28 June (2005) United States "To pay tribute to those who died in the war and to pray for world peace in the 60th year after the end of the war" 13 8 June – 15 June (2006) Singapore, Thailand "To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations at the invitation of Singapore and to attend celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the accession to the throne of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand" 14 21 May – 30 May (2007) Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, United Kingdom "To mark presence as a honorary member of the Linnean Society on the 300th birth anniversary of Carl von Linné at the invitation of Sweden and the United Kingdom and to foster friendly relations at the invitation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania" 15 3 July – 17 July (2009) Canada, United States "To foster friendly relations at the invitation of Canada, and to celebrate the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Crown Prince Akihito Scholarship Foundation (Visit to Hawaii)" 16 16 May – 20 May (2012) United Kingdom "To attend a luncheon in commemoration of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II at the invitation of Queen Elizabeth II" 17 30 November – 6 December (2013) India "To foster friendly relations at the invitation of India" 18 8 April – 9 April (2015) Palau "To pay tribute to those who died in the war and to foster international goodwill in the 70th year after the end of the war" 19 26 January – 30 January (2016) Philippines "To foster friendly relations on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations at the invitation of the Philippines" 20 28 February – 6 March (2017) Vietnam "To foster friendly relations at the invitation of Vietnam"