Foreign relations of Japan

Foreign policy

History

Links

• Foreign relations of Meiji Japan
• International relations of the Great Powers (1814–1919)
• Diplomatic history of World War I
• International relations (1919–1939)
• Causes of World War II
• Diplomatic history of World War II
• Cold War
• * History of Sino-Japanese relations, China
• * France–Japan relations
• * Germany–Japan relations
• * Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, 1930–1945
• * History of Japan–Korea relations
• ** Japan–North Korea relations
• ** Japan–South Korea relations
• * Japanese foreign policy on Southeast Asia
• * Japan–Russia relations
• ** Japan–Soviet Union relations
• * Japan–United Kingdom relations
• * Japan–United States relations

  Diplomatic relations

Bilateral relations

Africa

Country	Formal relations began	Notes
Algeria Americas Japan has continued to extend significant support to development and technical assistance projects in Latin America. Country Formal relations began Notes Argentina Asia Southeast Asia By 1990 Japan's interaction with the vast majority of Asia-Pacific countries, especially its burgeoning economic exchanges, was multifaceted and increasingly important to the recipient countries. The developing countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations regarded Japan as critical to their development. Japan's aid to the ASEAN countries totaled US$1.9 billion in Japanese fiscal year 1988 versus about US$333 million for the United States during U.S. FY 1988. As of the late 1980s, Japan was the number one foreign investor in the ASEAN countries, with cumulative investment as of March 1989 of about US$14.5 billion, more than twice that of the United States. Japan's share of total foreign investment in ASEAN countries in the same period ranged from 70 to 80 percent in Thailand to 20 percent in Indonesia. In the late 1980s, the Japanese government was making a concerted effort to enhance its diplomatic stature, especially in Asia. Toshiki Kaifu's much publicized spring 1991 tour of five Southeast Asian nations—Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines—culminated in a 3 May major foreign policy address in Singapore, in which he called for a new partnership with the ASEAN and pledged that Japan would go beyond the purely economic sphere to seek an "appropriate role in the political sphere as a nation of peace." As evidence of this new role, Japan took an active part in promoting negotiations to resolve the Cambodian conflict. In 1997, the ASEAN member nations and the People's Republic of China, South Korea and Japan agreed to hold yearly talks to further strengthen regional cooperation, the ASEAN Plus Three meetings. In 2005 the ASEAN plus Three countries together with India, Australia and New Zealand held the inaugural East Asia Summit. South Asia In South Asia, Japan's role is mainly that of an aid donor. Japan's aid to seven South Asian countries totaled US$1.1 billion in 1988. Except for Pakistan, which received heavy inputs of aid from the United States, all other South Asian countries received most of their aid from Japan as of the early 1990s. Four South Asian nations—India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka—are in the top ten list of Tokyo's aid recipients worldwide as of the early 1990s. A point to note is that Indian Government has received no aid since the 2004 Tsunami that struck India but Indian registered NGOs look to Japan for much investment in their projects. Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu signaled a broadening of Japan's interest in South Asia with his swing through the region in April 1990. In an address to the Indian parliament, Kaifu stressed the role of free markets and democracy in bringing about "a new international order," and he emphasized the need for a settlement of the Kashmir territorial dispute between India and Pakistan and for economic liberalization to attract foreign investment and promote dynamic growth. To India, which was very short of hard currency, Kaifu pledged a new concessional loan of ¥100 billion for the coming year. Japan’s engagement with the Middle East region reflects a sophisticated, multi-dimensional approach that has evolved since the 1973 oil crisis. Initially driven by energy security concerns, Japan’s strategy now includes economic partnerships, cultural exchanges, and political collaboration. By strengthening ties with both energy-exporting nations like Saudi Arabia and non-energy-focused countries such as Egypt, Japan has built a network of interdependence that extends beyond oil to broader strategic and cultural dimensions. Country Formal relations began Notes Afghanistan Europe In what became known as the Tenshō embassy, the first ambassadors from Japan to European powers reached Lisbon, Portugal in August 1584. From Lisbon, the ambassadors left for the Vatican in Rome, which was the main goal of their journey. The embassy returned to Japan in 1590, after which time the four nobleman ambassadors were ordained by Alessandro Valignano as the first Japanese Jesuit fathers. A second embassy, headed by Hasekura Tsunenaga and sponsored by Date Masamune, was also a diplomatic mission to the Vatican. The embassy left 28 October 1613 from Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, in the northern Tōhoku region of Japan, where Date was daimyō. It traveled to Europe by way of New Spain, arriving in Acapulco on 25 January 1614, Mexico City in March, Havana in July, and finally Seville on 23 October 1614. After a short stop-over in France, the embassy reached Rome in November 1615, where it was received by Pope Paul V. After return travel by way of New Spain and the Philippines, the embassy reached the harbor of Nagasaki in August 1620. While the embassy was gone, Japan had undergone significant change, starting with the 1614 Osaka Rebellion, leading to a 1616 decree from the Tokugawa shogunate that all interaction with non-Chinese foreigners was confined to Hirado and Nagasaki. In fact, the only western country that was allowed to trade with Japan was the Dutch Republic. This was the beginning of "sakoku", where Japan was essentially closed to the western world until 1854. Modern era The cultural and non-economic ties with Western Europe grew significantly during the 1980s, although the economic nexus remained by far the most important element of Japanese – West European relations throughout the decade. Events in West European relations, as well as political, economic, or even military matters, were topics of concern to most Japanese commentators because of the immediate implications for Japan. The major issues centered on the effect of the coming West European economic unification on Japan's trade, investment, and other opportunities in Western Europe. Some West European leaders were anxious to restrict Japanese access to the newly integrated European Union, but others appeared open to Japanese trade and investment. In partial response to the strengthening economic ties among nations in Western Europe and to the United States–Canada–Mexico North American Free Trade Agreement, Japan and other countries along the Asia-Pacific rim began moving in the late 1980s toward greater economic cooperation. On 18 July 1991, after several months of difficult negotiations, Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu signed a joint statement with the Dutch prime minister and head of the European Community Council, Ruud Lubbers, and with the European Commission president, Jacques Delors, pledging closer Japanese – European Community consultations on foreign relations, scientific and technological cooperation, assistance to developing countries, and efforts to reduce trade conflicts. Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials hoped that this agreement would help to broaden Japanese – European Community political links and raise them above the narrow confines of trade disputes. Country Formal relations began Notes Albania Oceania Country Formal relations began Notes Australia Citation needed|date=September 2021Citation needed|date=September 2021Citation needed|date=September 2021Citation needed|date=September 2021Citation needed|date=September 2021Citation needed|date=September 2021 Disputed territories Japan has several territorial disputes with its neighbors concerning the control of certain outlying islands. Japan contests Russia's control of the Southern Kuril Islands which were occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945. South Korea's assertions concerning Liancourt Rocks are acknowledged, but not accepted by Japan. Japan has strained relations with the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China over the Senkaku Islands; and with the People's Republic of China over the status of Okinotorishima.