A lawyer from West Virginia continues to stay in touch with his college friend of more than 40 years – Emperor Naruhito.
Keith George and the Emperor of Japan met while both of them were studying at Oxford University‘s Merton College in 1983.
Naruhito and George became close friends while the then-crown prince lived in the room next to the lawyer, according to the BBC.
‘It was a little bit of a surprise, but we became instant friends,’ George told BBC earlier this month.
What began as a casual friendship turned into a close bond that has clearly never been broken by the men who still keep in contact with one another through letters and phone calls.
Keith George and Japanese Emperor Naruhito met while both of them were studying at Oxford University’s Merton College in 1983
The two men have stayed in touch for more than 40 years through phone calls, letters and occasional visits to Japan
George previously attended Bowdoin College in Maine, and Naruhito went to Gakushuin University in Tokyo before going to Merton.
The pair’s strong bond grew after the school placed them in adjacent dorms, but the two of them met for the first time at Merton’s matriculation ceremony.
The school placed George and Naruhito next to one another because the students were arranged in alphabetical order.
During their meeting, Naruhito appeared to want to be treated like a regular person other than a soon-to-be crown prince.
‘He asked me the first day to call him Hiro,’ Keith told BBC.
Photographers ended up capturing a picture of George and Naruhito during the ceremony, and it was featured on the front page of The New York Times.
‘I was surprised because there were hundreds of photographers in front of us. Hiro said to me, “You will get used to this,”‘ George told Kyodo News in 2019.
‘We did it, and that worked. We laughed. He has a good sense of humor, (and) I thought we would be good friends.’
The lawyer met Naruhito’s security detail shortly afterward and claimed that he also ‘became very good friends with them.’
Photographers captured a picture of George and Naruhito during Merton College’s matriculation ceremony in 1983
George revealed to Kyodo News that the two of them would enjoy playing music while living in the dorms.
The lawyer enjoyed strumming his guitar in a bar while Naruhito would play the viola with George’s bluegrass band.
The two of them would also hang out together outside of campus and occasionally go out for pizza.
According to George, Naruhito ‘enjoyed the pubs and the restaurants,’ and the emperor also ‘wanted to have an authentic student experience.’
‘His life would be totally different in Japan. There was a certain sadness of losing the freedom that he had in the university, but at the same time he said he was gratefully accepting his duties,’ George recalled in 2019.
Naruhito also spent time writing a thesis paper about 18th-century navigation and traffic on the River Thames — a thesis related to the emperor’s memoir The Thames and I: A Memoir by Prince Naruhito of Two Years at Oxford.
‘I knew who he was, I respected that, but our friendship had more to do with who he was as a person,’ George told BBC.
‘I wasn’t a friend [just] because at the time he was the crown prince. It was authentic.’
According to George, Naruhito ‘enjoyed the pubs and the restaurants,’ and the emperor also ‘wanted to have an authentic student experience’
The lawyer enjoyed strumming his guitar in a bar while Naruhito would play the viola with George’s bluegrass band
The duo’s get-togethers didn’t stop after their time at Merton College came to an end in 1985.
George recalled a time when Naruhito traveled to the U.S. and spent the night at the lawyer’s childhood home in Morgantown.
The Japanese emperor invited George’s parents to a state dinner in Washington, D.C., with late former presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
Despite Naruhito’s interest in an authentic college experience, George told Kyodo News that the emperor knew what his future would be like.
‘He was prepared to assume his duty to be the crown prince and eventually the emperor. It was very clear,’ said George.
In 2019, George recalled a time when Naruhito traveled to the U.S. and spent the night at the lawyer’s childhood home in Morgantown
George visited Japan multiple times over the years and attended Naruhito’s wedding to Empress Masako in 1993
George, who is now an attorney at Robinson & McElwee, PLLC, visited Naruhito multiple times in Japan over the years.
He also attended Naruhito’s wedding ceremony to now-empress Masako Owada in 1993 after she studied international relations at Oxford.
In addition to phone calls, letters and in-person visits, George and Naruhito remain connected through their music, which is featured in a country music album released by the lawyer.
George had nothing but good things to say about Naruhito before he became the emperor of Japan on May 1, 2019.
‘After the enthronement, the Japanese people will (get to) know him better,’ George told Kyodo News.
‘He is kind, honorable and caring. He will never dishonor his people and his country.’
Both of the men are now excited for their daughters to meet each other, as George’s eldest daughter is the same age as Naruhito’s daughter, Aiko, Princess Toshi.