Japan's emperor to help mark queen's jubilee Japan's Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko attend an award ceremony of the 28th Japan Prize in Tokyo on April 25, 2012. (CBS News) Japan's Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko will be in Britain next week to help mark Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee. Special Section: The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Pictures: Emperor Akihito It is the first overseas trip in three years for the 78-year-old Japanese monarch, who has been in ill health recently and underwent cardiac bypass surgery in February. The five-day visit, which begins Thursday, will include a banquet at Buckingham Palace, a luncheon hosted by the queen at Windsor Castle, meetings with Japanese citizens living in the U.K. and meetings with British citizens who sent aid to Japanese earthquake and tsunami victims last year. This will be the emperor's eighth trip to Britain. His first was made when he still was crown prince and it included attendance at the queen's coronation.