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 Indonesia |  Japan |
|---|---|
| Diplomatic mission | |
| Indonesian Embassy, Tokyo | Japanese Embassy, Jakarta |
Indonesia andJapan established diplomatic relations on 20 January 1958.[1] Both are two Asian nations that share historical, economic, and political ties. Both nations went through a difficult period inWorld War II when the thenDutch East Indies wasoccupied by theImperial Japanese Army for three-and-a-half years.[2] Japan is a major trading partner for Indonesia.[3] Japan is Indonesia's largestexport partner and also a major donor of development aid to Indonesia throughJapan International Cooperation Agency. Indonesia is a vital supplier of natural resources such asliquefied natural gas to Japan. Today in Indonesia, there are about 11,000 Japanese expatriates whereas in Japan, there are approximately 24,000 Indonesian nationals working and training.
Indonesia has anembassy in Tokyo and aconsulate inOsaka. Japan has an embassy inJakarta, consulate-general inSurabaya, and consulates inMedan,Denpasar andMakassar.
The linguist Ann Kumar (2009) proposed that someAustronesians migrated toJapan, possibly an elite-group fromJava, and created the Japanese-hierarchical society and identifies 82 plausiblecognates between Austronesian and Japanese.[4] However, Kumar's theory is controversial because it lacks archaeological, genetic, and linguistic evidence.[5]
In early 17th centuryJapanese settlers were first recorded to settle inDutch East Indies. A larger wave came in the 17th century, whenRed seal ships traded in Southeast Asia. In 1898 the Dutch East Indies colonial records show 614 Japanese residing in the Dutch East Indies (166 men, 448 women).[6] As the Japanese population grew, a Japanese consulate was established in Batavia in 1909, but for the first several years its population statistics were rather haphazard.[7] Beginning in the late 1920s,Okinawan fishermen began to settle innorth Sulawesi. There was a Japanese primary school atManado, which by 1939 had 18 students.[8] In total, 6,349 Japanese people lived in Indonesia by 1938.[9]
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The first Indonesian student to have studied in Japan was revolutionary andMinang politician,Abdoel Madjid Usman atMeiji University studying Law. During his time there, he co-founded theSerikat Indonesia (Indonesian Union), an organization for Indonesian students in Japan, and actively promoted Indonesia's independence in various international forums. He would become acollaborator, an independence advocate, and politician.[10]
In 1942, theEmpire of Japan invaded countries in Southeast Asia,including Indonesia. The Japanese seized the key oil production zones ofBorneo,Java,Sumatera, and theNetherlands New Guinea (the modern day Indonesian province ofPapua, which was also conveniently abundant in highly valuablecopper) of the lateDutch East Indies, defeating theDutch forces and were welcomed by many as liberating heroes by Javanese natives. Many natives saw as the realization of anindigenous Javanese prophecy. The Japanese encouraged the spread of Indonesian nationalist sentiment. Although this was done more for Japanese political advantage than from altruistic support of Indonesian independence, this support created new Indonesian institutions and elevated political leaders such asSukarno. Through recruiting Indonesian nationalist leaders, the Japanese attempted to rally Indonesian support and mobilize the Indonesian people in support of the Japanese war efforts. The experience of the Japanese occupation of Indonesia varied considerably, depending upon where one's location and social position. Many who lived in areas considered essential to the war effort enduredtorture,sexual slavery,arbitrary arrest and execution, and otherwar crimes. Many thousands of people were taken away from Indonesia asforced laborers, orromusha, for Japanese military projects where there was a very high death rate.
To gain military support from Indonesian people in their war againstWestern Allied force, Japan began to foster the Indonesian nationalistic movement by providing Indonesian youths with military training and weapons, including the formation of a volunteer army calledPembela Tanah Air (PETA; Defenders of the Homeland). The Japanese military training of Indonesian youths originally was intended to rally the local's support to bolster the collapsing power of theJapanese Empire. However, later this military training became a significant asset for the Indonesian Republic during theNational Revolution from 1945 to 1949.
In 1945, with the Japanese on the brink of defeat, the Dutch sought to re-establish their authority in Indonesia, and requested the Japanese army "preserve law and order" in Indonesia.[11] Unfortunately for the Dutch, the Japanese favored helping Indonesian nationalists prepare for self-government. On 7 September 1944, as the war was going badly for the Japanese,Prime MinisterKuniaki Koiso promised independence for Indonesia, although the Prime Minister failed to set a date for this independence.[12] On 29 April 1945, Japanese 16th Army force formed theBPUPK (Japanese:Dokuritsu Junbi Chou-sakai), a Japanese-organized committee to work on "preparations for independence in the region of the government of this island of Java".[13] The organization was founded on 29 April 1945, by Lt. Gen. Kumakichi Harada, the commander of16th Army in Java. It discussed matters related to Indonesian independence, although the laterIndonesian Proclamation of Independence on 17 August 1945 was carried out independently by Sukarno and Hatta without the official support of Japan.[14]
After the end of Japanese occupation, roughly 3,000Imperial Japanese Army soldiers chose to remain in Indonesia and fight alongside local people against the Dutch colonists in theIndonesian National Revolution; roughly one-third were killed, of whom many are buried in theKalibata Heroes' Cemetery, while another third chose to remain in Indonesia after the fighting ended, some of them becoming decorated as Indonesian independence heroes.[15][16]
After theIndonesian Revolution, Indonesian independence wasrecognized by the end of 1949. In the mid-1950s, talks between Japan and Indonesia began on war reparations after the San Francisco Agreement was signed, and finalized with the Agreement on Compensation and the opening of diplomatic relations in 1958.[2] The bilateral diplomatic relations between Republic of Indonesia and Japan officially established in April 1958.[3]
In the 1970s, Japanese manufacturers, especially those in the electronics sector, began establishing factories in Indonesia; this encouraged the migration of a new wave of Japanese expatriates, mainly managers and technical staff connected to large Japanese corporations.[17] TheJapanese automotive industry also began to dominate Indonesian market and today Japanese car manufacturers enjoys the largest market shares in Indonesia. Simultaneously Japanese consumer products began to pour into Indonesian market.
However the Japanese economic domination over Indonesia has led to the popular opposition that escalated into theMalari incident, (abbreviation of Indonesian:Malapetaka Limabelas Januari or "Fifteen January disaster") when anti-Japanese and anti-foreign investment demonstrations led to riots on 15 January 1974, during Japanese Prime MinisterKakuei Tanaka's state visit to Jakarta on 14—17 January 1974.
Japanese investment in Indonesia has steadily increased since the 1980s continued well to 21st century.
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In 2012, there were between 1,200 and 1,300 Japanese corporates operating in Indonesia, with some 12,000 Japanese nationals living in Indonesia.[3] Japan has been investing in Indonesia for decades, particularly in the automotive, electronic goods, energy, and mining sectors. Prior to the formation of the Indonesian Republic, the Japanese had viewed Indonesia as an important source of natural resources. The Japanese need of natural resources was among the reasons that led the nation to advance further to the south in their military conquests during World War II. Today Indonesia is Japan's major supplier fornatural rubber,liquefied natural gas,coal, minerals,paper pulp, seafood such asshrimp andtuna, andcoffee. Traditionally Indonesia has been regarded as a major market of Japanese automotive and electronic goods. For Japanese businesses, Indonesia has been a location for low-cost manufacturing operations as well as being the source of various natural resources required by those operations. Approximately 1,000 Japanese companies operate in Indonesia which employ approximately 300,000 people.[18] Major Japanese factories are concentrated east of Jakarta with high concentrations inBekasi,Cikarang andKarawang,West Java.
Japanese restaurant chains such asBeard Papa's,Yoshinoya,Sukiya andEbisu Curry, fashion, retail and household appliances stores such asSogo,AEON and MUJI, and bookstores such asBooks Kinokuniya have recently entered the market in Indonesia. In 2009,Taisho Pharmaceutical Co. acquiredBristol Myers Squibb Indonesia.[19] The investment of these new corporations is encouraged by the success of several Japanese companies.Ajinomoto is planning the construction of a new US$50 million factory in Indonesia.
The trend of bilateral trade volume in 2007-11 period revealed an average increase of 11.97 percent per year, as the bilateral trade figures shows significant increase from US$30.15 billion in 2007 to US$53.15 billion in 2011.[3] Trade between two countries amounted to about $37.44 billion in 2018, ranked Japan as Indonesia's 2nd largest trading partner behind China ($72.67 Billion).[20]
On 20 October 2020 during theCOVID-19 pandemic, then-Japanese Prime MinisterYoshihide Suga visited Indonesia,[21] and pledged low-interest loans of ¥50 billion ($473 million) to Indonesia in talks with the Southeast Asian nation's PresidentJoko Widodo to help it cope with the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.[22]
Japanese culture is well known in Indonesia, ranging from the traditional hallmarks such asJapanese cuisine,origami,samurai andkarate, to modern culture includingJ-pop,manga,anime,video games andcosplay. Thecity pop music genre has influenced a local music scene known aspop kreatif. Popular Japanese animation programmes such asDoraemon,Power Rangers andCrayon Shinchan, as well as video games such asSuper Mario,Street Fighter andFinal Fantasy have gained popularity among Indonesians since the late-1990s.JKT48, based in Jakarta, was the first overseas sister group ofAKB48idol girl group. JapaneseVTuber agencies likehololive andNijisanji, also created overseas branches composed of Indonesian-speaking VTubers. Conversely, many Japanese have become interested inIndonesian culture. Indonesian cultural icons such asbatik,gamelan, andIndonesian dances have gained Japanese attention.Bali andBorobudur have become popular destinations for Japanese tourists: Japan is one of the largest sources of tourism in Bali.
There are over 85,000 Indonesians studying theJapanese language, the largest number in Southeast Asia and the sixth largest in the world. The Indonesian interest in the Japanese language has been kindled by the increasing amount of Japanese business in Indonesia since 1980s and the sizable number of Japanese tourists visiting Indonesia. Proficiency in Japanese has become quite an asset for Indonesian students and workers.
InJakarta, Grand Wijaya Center andBlok M have clusters of businesses catering to Japanese expatriates, including restaurants and supermarkets selling imported food products; Blok M, in particular.[23] As a result of the high number of Japanese–style businesses and entertainments, the area around Blok M and Melawai Raya Street have come to be known as Jakarta's "Little Tokyo".[24]
In 2014, Japanese government abolished visa requirements for Indonesian citizens who possess an ordinarybiometric passport in an effort to increase people-to-people exchanges between Japan and Indonesia.[25]
Former Japanese ambassador for Indonesia,Masafumi Ishii, is known for his fondness for several Indonesian cuisines. He frequently posted his eating activities on Instagram, which made him famous in both countries, particularly Indonesia.[26][27]
Japan is one of the largest donors of development aid to Indonesia; this development aid is facilitated through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and through international agencies, especially theAsian Development Bank. AmongASEAN countries, Indonesia is the largestJapan's Official Development Assistance recipient.[28] For forty years, between 1967 and 2007, Japanese aid to Indonesia was provided within the arrangements of, first, theInter-Governmental Group on Indonesia, and later theConsultative Group on Indonesia.
Despite historical Japanese military aggression against Indonesia, mutual fear of an increasing Chinese threat has spurred the two nations to move relations into the defense sector. In 2021, Japan agreed to transfer weapons to Indonesia.[29] In July 2022, Japan joined theUnited States andAustralia in an Indonesianmilitary exercise focusing on freedom of navigation.[30]
Both countries are members of theUnited Nations,Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation,G20 major economies,Asia Cooperation Dialogue,World Trade Organization, and among others.
| Country polled | Positive | Negative | Neutral | Pos − Neg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Indonesia | 79% | 12% | 9 | 67 |
| Country polled | Positive | Negative | Neutral | Pos − Neg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indonesia | 85% | 7% | 8 | 78 |
According to a 2011BBC World Service Poll, 85% ofIndonesians view Japan's influence positively, with 7% expressing a negative view, making Indonesia one of the most pro-Japanese countries in the world.[32]
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