A charming little story is currently making its way around the internet: It seems that Naruhito, Emperor of Japan, has had his name confused with an orange-clad ninja from a popular manga while in Mongolia. But did a Mongolian schoolchild really accidentally call Emperor Naruhito “Naruto?”
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako have only just returned from Mongolia following an eight-day-long imperial visit; the trip saw the deepening of ties between the two countries, with Naruhito visiting numerous locales, the famed Naadam festival, and meeting the Mongolian president, Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh. Notably, Naruhito visited a memorial for Japanese imprisoned in Mongolia following World War II. But it’s a reported slip of the tongue by a young student that has drawn the attention of some on the Mongolian and English-language internet.
On July 10th, 2025, the Emperor and Empress visited Shine Mongol School (Шинэ Монгол сургууль) in the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbataar. The visit served to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the private school’s founding; Shine Mongol School operates based on Japanese educational principles and incorporates Japanese-style school uniforms, lunches, and after-school clubs. The school’s founder, Janchiv Galbadrakh, had studied at Yamagata University, and his daughter went to high school in Japan. With this deep connection to the country, it’s no surprise that 604 graduates of the school currently study at universities across Japan.
It was during this visit to Shine Mongol School that the anime-oriented slip-up occurred… or so social media claims.
Greeting a Hokage… er, Emperor
During his time at Shine Mongol, Emperor Naruhito sat in on a high school-level Japanese language class. Speaking with some students in Japanese, he gave encouragement to those who wished to study in Japan upon graduation.
It’s a photograph from later on during the visit that’s the source of the Naruto story. The photo shows Naruhito chuckling good-naturedly; a young boy in front of Naruhito seems to be facepalming, while Mongolian teachers join in laughing in his direction. Some Mongolian commentators on X, formerly Twitter, wondered as to what could have set the Emperor to laughing. Other commentators then chimed in with the supposed reason. One of the earliest, posted by real estate commentator Olonbayar Rentsendash, reads:
“A student from Shine Mongol School, a youth named Tsog, called the vaunted Emperor Naruhito ‘Naruto,’ causing a burst of laughter.”
Further commentators added the claim that the emperor smiled, and simply replied, “My name is actually Naruhito.”
It’s a very cute story, and one that’s already made the rounds on social media in all three languages. On English-language Reddit, a post of the image with the explanation gained nearly 45 thousand upvotes. It’s all-around charming, painting the Emperor, the students, and the school in a good light, and connects well with something true: for foreigners, Naruhito does sound a bit like Naruto. And Naruto is, after all, one of the world’s most popular anime TV series. There’s a lot here for social media users to grasp onto.
But Did it Actually Happen?
Now, the question is, did this really happen? I searched through the Japanese, Mongolian, and English-language internet to try to find the origin of this story. None was forthcoming, although some reputable-seeming journalists in all three languages repeated the story on social media, although without original sources. No article I could find in any of these three languages referenced the Naruto-Naruhito slip-of-the-tongue.
In fact, the only initial explanation for the photo itself was to be found in an article by The Japan Times. Here, the caption for the photo reads: “Emperor Naruhito smiles at children who performed a dance during a visit to Shine Mongol School in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on Thursday.”
On further examination, is the boy facepalming, or is he rather doing a Michael Jackson-inspired dance routine? The hand-on-head move does look a bit like one of MJ’s famous moonwalk gestures, and his arm, extended backwards, looks more like a dance move than a reaction of embarrassment.
Japanese news reporting directly backs up the “Michael Jackson” dance being the reason for the Emperor’s smile. Yahoo! Japan News, amongst others, states that “an elementary school student struck a Michael Jackson pose, causing the Emperor to smile.” The accompanying video doesn’t show the pose, but it does show the emperor smiling and thanking the assembled students.
The Actual Basis: Michael Jackson, and a Story from Indonesia?
In fact, this story seems to borrow from a slightly less funny real-life occurrence that took place in Indonesia. In 2023, Emperor Naruhito was visiting a university in Jakarta, similarly interacting with students learning Japanese. There, one third-year student told the Emperor that he was a fan of the anime series Naruto; the Emperor smiled, responding that “I’m Naruhito.” Just as in the Mongolian retelling, the assembled personages laughed at Naruhito’s good-humored response.
The above event has actually been covered by news organizations, and has a paper trail. Versions of the Mongolia story seem to adapt the “I’m Naruhito” punchline.
Now, is it possible that two students in two different countries referenced a highly popular manga series to an emperor with a similar-sounding name? Certainly. But without any actual sourcing, it doesn’t quite pass the smell test, especially given the actual sources for the Michael Jackson dance version.
So, sadly, my tentative verdict is no, a young Mongolian boy named Tsog likely did not call Emperor Naruhito “Naruto.” But a Mongolian student did make the Japanese emperor laugh by dancing like Michael Jackson, which, in its own very random way, is just as charming.
And as for the person who, I assume, invented this story; what can I say, he’s one smooth criminal.
Update: Further Evidence
So, if the above wasn’t enough to break the Naruto story’s believability, here’s a comment on Mongolian Facebook from an Lkhagvadulam Bat-erdene, claiming to have helped organise the school meeting:
Here’s that post, in English. (Note: While I do read and speak some Mongolian, the following makes use of Machine Translation):
“I am one of the organisers of this reception. This boy did not say that. While standing to bid farewell to the emperor, the elementary school kid was moved and suddenly danced Michael Jackson’s dance to the emperor of Japan. This unexpected event brought laughter to all Mongolian and Japanese people. All present produced innocent, sincere laughter. Later, the Japanese journalists wanted to have the boy come up alone and dance for the emperor again. One writes false information without a source, and people generally believe it…”
Bat-erdene even included a video posted by the Japanese Imperial Household Agency in her response that clearly shows the boy doing his Michael Jackson dance for Emperor Naruhito, which can be viewed here.
So, there you have it. After some exhaustive trilingual investigative journalism, the verdict seems to be: nope, no Naruto faux pas. It just goes to show, when one reads something on the internet, it’s best not to simply… believe it.
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Sources
Jiji. (Jul 11, 2025.) Emperor visits Mongolian school offering Japanese-style education. The Japan Times.
FNN Prime Online. (7/10(木) 16:58). 天皇陛下がモンゴルの日本式学校へ「日本とモンゴルの架け橋に」 小学生のマイケル・ジャクソンのポーズに笑顔も. Yahoo! Japan News.
FNN Prime Online. (2023/06/22). 陛下の“ユーモア”に皇后さまも学生も笑いに包まれる アニメ『ナルト』好きの学生に「私は『ナルヒト』です」. Bunshun Online.
Шинэ Монгол сургууль – official Facebook page.
