The first postwar visit to South Korea by a Japanese Emperor is still up in the air due to a combination of politics, soccer bureaucracy, national sensibilities and a dispute over television broadcast rights.
The latest episode in Imperial soccer diplomacy was the cancellation by Prince Takamado -- the Emperor's cousin -- of a trip to Seoul scheduled to begin April 26.
Prince Takamado is the honorary president of the Football Association of Japan, and during the planned three-day visit he was to have seen a South Korea-Japan soccer match and viewed venues for the 2002 World Cup finals.