Vienna - Japan's Prince Akishino, Emperor Akihito's second-born son, and his wife Princess Kiko on Monday started an official visit to Austria, at the outset of a tour of Central and Eastern European countries along the Danube river.

The couple's programme on Monday included a meeting with Austrian President Heinz Fischer in his offices in the Hofburg, the former imperial Habsburg palace in central Vienna.

The prince's trip commemorates the 140th anniversary of Japan establishing diplomatic diplomatic relations with Austria and Hungary.

Besides these two countries, the prince and princess are also set to travel to Bulgaria and Romania, which resumed relations with Tokyo 50 years ago.

In Austria, the couple's three-day schedule included a visit to sites related to the city's past as the capital of the Austro- Hungarian monarchy, such as the Habsburg's Schoenbrunn summer palace.

Prince Akishino is second in the imperial succession line after his brother, Crown Prince Naruhito. The birth of Akishino's son Hisahito in 2006 secured the traditional male lineage to the Japanese throne. The baby prince was the first male addition to the imperial family since the 1960ies.

The prince and princess, who are travelling without their son and two daughters, are scheduled to return to Japan on May 23 after a brief stopover in Paris. (dpa)