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MANILA/TOKYO ? Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko ended their five-day historic state visit to the Philippines on Saturday.

The imperial couple left shortly before noon for Japan at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City.

President Benigno Aquino III and his sister, Pinky Aquino-Abellada, accompanied the imperial couple to the tarmac.

The four bowed before the flags of the Philippines and Japan before they walked on the red carpet towards their plane.

After climbing the stairs, the imperial couple waved to the crowd before they entered the plane.

During their stay, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko visited the heroes cemetery in Taguig City and Japanese Memorial Garden in Caliraya, Laguna in honor of the war dead.

The emperor, in a speech during the state dinner Wednesday in Malacanang, said people who perished during the war should not be forgotten.

“Last year Japan marked the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. During this war, fierce battles between Japan and the United States took place on Philippine soil, resulting in the loss of many Filipino lives and leaving many Filipinos injured,” the emperor said.

“This is something we Japanese must never forget and we intend to keep this engraved in our hearts throughout our visit,” he added.

The imperial couple laid a wreath at the monument of Philippine national hero Jose Rizal at the Luneta Park in Manila. They also visited by the International Rice Research institution in Los Banos, Laguna.

The imperial couple arrived in Japan Saturday afternoon.

Their state visit from Tuesday was the first by a Japanese imperial couple to the Philippines, with this year marking the 60th anniversary of the normalization of the two countries’ diplomatic ties.

Around 1.1 million Filipinos and about 518,000 Japanese soldiers and civilians died in the Philippines during the war, which Japan fought in the name of the emperor’s father Hirohito, posthumously known as Emperor Showa, who was commander in chief of the Japanese military before and during the war. Emmanuel Tupas/DMS-Kyodo