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Emperor Naruhito state visit: Banquet at London Guildhall; Part 1 of 3ENGLAND: London: City of London: London Guildhall:INTEmperor Naruhito speech SOT- My Lord Mayor, Your Royal Highness, Your Excellencies, My Lords, Aldermen, Sheriffs, Chief Commoner, Honoured GuestsI would like to express my profound appreciation to you for hosting me tonight, and for the warm words of welcome from the Lord MayorI had the opportunity of visiting this Guildhall in 1983, when I was studying at the University of Oxford / also on several occasions, I went into the Guildhall library to peruse the historical records concerning the history of water transport on the River Thames in the 18th century, which I found very useful for my research / I also have fond memories of visiting pubs around here during lunchtimeLooking back at my irreplaceably precious two years at the University of Oxford, I am reminded of how warmly I was welcomed by the people of this countryAt the beginning of my stay in Oxford, I was not used to handling British currency and found myself using too many notes and collecting too many heavy coins / on one occasion they all fell out of my purse / I was rather upset, but the people nearby joined me in picking up the coins / I was struck by the kindliness of British people and went back to the college with a sense of relief / today, electronic transactions have become so prevalent in this country that people not only do not use coins but do not even carry wallets with them, making do with credit cards or smartphones / this fact really makes me feel the passage of 40 yearsOn the other hand, what feels unchanged on this visit is the warmth of the people of this country as well as the vigour and energy of the City of London / when we look back at the history of the City and Japan, we might start at the dawn of the Meiji era, when Japan was steaming ahead towards modernisation and learning from the United Kingdom - the birthplace of the Indust...