Mongolian Prime Minister Nambaryn Enkhbayar met the Emperor on Friday and thanked Japan for its assistance to help his country cope with serious damage caused by freezing weather and heavy snow, Imperial Household Agency officials said.
Enkhbayar and his wife, Onon Tsolmon, had a 30-minute meeting with the Emperor and Empress at the Imperial Palace. Enkhbayar, who became prime minister in July, arrived Tuesday in Tokyo for a six-day visit to Japan.
More than 600,000 head of livestock have frozen or starved to death in Mongolia this winter, with 90 percent of the land covered by heavy snow. The animal death toll is expected to reach 6 million, or 20 percent of the national total, by the end of the winter in May.
The prime minister also told the Emperor that sumo has become a craze in his country and that Japanese sumo wrestlers are well known. The Emperor told the premier he saw three Mongolian wrestlers when he watched a sumo tournament, they said.