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 Japan |  Taiwan |
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| Diplomatic mission | |
| Japan–Taiwan Exchange Association | Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan |
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The relationship between Japan and Taiwan dates back to 1592 during theSengoku period of Japan when the Japanese rulerToyotomi Hideyoshi sent an envoy named Harada Magoshichirou to the Takasago Koku (Japanese:高砂国, contemporary name referred to Taiwan). The bilateral trading relations continued through theDutch colonial rule and theTungning Kingdom of Taiwan in 17th century before the completion of Japan'sSakoku policy. After theMeiji restoration in the latter half of the 19th century, Japan resumed its expansionist ambition upon Taiwan andsuccessfully annexed Taiwan from 1895 to 1945, until thesurrender of Japan afterWorld War II. Control over the island of Taiwan was also surrendered by Japan to theRepublic of China on 25 October 1945.
After theJapan–China Joint Communiqué in 1972, Japan no longer recognized the Republic of China as the sole official government of China, and official diplomatic relations between the two countries were ceased. However, Japan has maintained non-governmental, working-level relations with Taiwan.[1]
In 1567, theMing dynasty lifted legal prohibitions on foreign trade, but maintained a ban on Sino-Japanese trade.[2] Southwestern Taiwan was utilized as a location outside of Ming jurisdiction for Japanese merchants, in particular, to sell silver to Fujianese buyers.[2] In 1593,Toyotomi Hideyoshi attempted but failed at compelling Taiwan, which the Japanese called "Highland nation" (Japanese:高砂国,Hepburn:Takasago-koku), into a tributary relationship as the island lacked a unified government.[3][4]: 60 Japan subsequently launched two failed attempts at occupying Taiwan in 1609 and 1616.[4]: 60 In 1616,Nagasaki officialMurayama Tōan sent 13 vessels to conquer Taiwan. The fleet was dispersed by a typhoon.[3][5][6]
The Dutchcolonized part of Taiwan as a base for trade with Japan in 1624.[2]
During theKingdom of Tungning era (1662–83),Japan boughtdeerskin,sugar andsilk from Taiwan and soldprecious metal,porcelain,armors andcotton cloth. Japanese money could be used in Taiwan during that period and Japanese merchants were permitted to live inKeelung.[7][8][9]
In 1874,Japanese troops invaded southern Taiwan to attack aboriginal tribes, in revenge for the killing of 54 Ryukyuan sailors in 1871.[4]: 62–63
Japan's victory overQing dynasty in theFirst Sino-Japanese War resulted in the 1895Treaty of Shimonoseki, in which Taiwan was ceded to Japan. Taiwan was then ruled by theEmpire of Japan until 1945. The Japanese Imperial Army defeated the native aborigine rebels in theTapani incident of 1915 and theMusha Incident of 1930.
During that time, Taiwan was Japan's firstcolony and can be viewed as the first step in implementing their "Southern Expansion Doctrine" of the late 19th century. Japanese intentions were to turn Taiwan into a showpiece "model colony" with much effort made to improve the island's economy,public works,industry, culturalJapanization, and to support the necessities of Japanese military aggression in theAsia-Pacific.[10][11]
AfterJapan's surrender at the end ofWorld War II, Taiwan was placed under the governance of theRepublic of China.
After the war between Republic of China and Japan, during theoccupation of Japan,Prime MinisterShigeru Yoshida (officially the last prime minister under theroyal decree by theJapanese emperor), intended to approach the newly establishedPeople's Republic of Chinaeconomically anddiplomatically. However, theUS rectified thisinitiative and threatened toboycott the 1951Treaty of San Francisco if Japan did not engage withRepublic of China (Taiwan) and the later formation of theSino-Japanese Peace Treaty (a parallel treaty to theTreaty of San Francisco between Japan and the two Chinas that were excluded). The US required Japan to accept diplomatic relations with the Republic of China; otherwise,sovereignty to the country would not be restored, effectively maintainingwar with the US and keeping it under USmilitary occupation.
By taking everything into consideration, in the midst of the US creating itscontainment policy inAsia, Prime Minister Yoshida shifted his stance with regard to the US administration (to then-US Secretary of StateJohn Foster Dulles), as detailed in the Yoshida Letter,[12] to negotiate apeace treaty with Taipei instead. Also as a result ofratification of theTreaty of San Francisco by theUS Congress andSenate, he officially ended Japan's status as animperial power, officially relinquishing ofthe island of Taiwan andPescadores. These actions were drafted intoArticle 9 of the new liberal democraticJapanese Constitution which dismantled the country'smilitary capabilities todeclare war on another country with the reservation ofself-defense limitations and later stipulated theSecurity Treaty Between the United States and Japan, which was also passed and enacted by the majority members of thenew Japanese Diet with subsequentsecuritytreaties in thepost-war era.
With the eruption of theKorean War and US and UN intervention in that war, diplomatic relations between thegovernments of Japan and thegovernment of Republic of China were established following the termination of US occupation of Japan in 1952. Japan led thelogistics andartilleryproduction/manufacturing industry to support the US in the Korean War, which acted as the majorstimulus for the revival ofits economy, especially inheavy andlight industry, soon evident in theJapanese post-war economic miracle. On April 28, 1952, a formalpeace treaty was concluded between Japan and what Republic of China. In Article 10 of theSino-Japanese Peace Treaty that retrospects:[clarification needed]
for the purposes of the present Treaty,nationals of the Republic of China shall be deemed to include all theinhabitants and former inhabitants of (Taiwan (Formosa)) andPenghu (the Pescadores) and their descendants who are ofChinese nationality in accordance with thelaws andregulations which have been or may hereafter be enforced by the Republic of China in Taiwan (Formosa) and Penghu (the Pescadores); and juridical persons of the Republic of China shall be deemed to include all those registered under the laws and regulations which have been or may hereafter be enforced by the Republic of China in Taiwan (Formosa) and Penghu (the Pescadores).
Bilaterally, Japan had, and still has from members of theJapan Business Federation, strong trading ties with Taiwan. Japan played a keyfinancial role of governmentalloans to the ROC government to help with the burgeoning country's economic development on various levels before theNixon Shock[13][14][15] and the severing of ties between the two governments.
In 1958, theSino-Ryukyuan Economic and Cultural Association was established atNaha,Okinawa, which was the strategic headquarters of the US Armed Forces in the region. In 1972, Okinawa was returned to Japan by the U.S., but the association remained as an institution to foster relations, dialogue and academic exchange between Japan, Okinawa and Taiwan.
The Guang Hua Liao (Kokaryo) case involved the ownership of a dormitory that the ROC purchased in 1952 to house students, yet the PRC controlled and operated since the 1960s. The ROC, seeking to take control of the dormitory, asked the students to sign a lease contract, and when the ROC received no response, it filed a lawsuit as "the State of China" in Kyoto District Court in 1967, seeking removal of the students living in the dormitory.[16] In 1977, 10 years after the ROC filed its original lawsuit, the Kyoto District Court gave a verdict: The dormitory belonged to the PRC. The case was appealed in 1982 to the Osaka High Court, which ordered the Kyoto District Court to reconsider its ruling. The Kyoto court did, and in February 1986 the decision was reversed and the dormitory was returned, in name, to the ROC. The Osaka High Court found in favor of Taiwan because of "incomplete succession of government" in the case of "the State of China." In 2007, the Japanese Supreme Court quashed the decision. The Supreme Court held that Japan's recognition of Beijing in 1972 rendered the ROC's representation on behalf of "the State of China" invalid.[17] Notably, the Japanese decision carefully focused on a narrow ground of standing as "the State of China," which Japan recognizes as the PRC. It did not foreclose the possibility of refiling the case as the Republic of China.[17]
Regarding the "One-China policy", Japan had been an earnest ally to Taiwan, but global politics pushed Japan to overturn its position. As the attempt to belligerently recovermainland China failed and faded and the Republic of China government was expelled, voted out of UN in a General Assembly vote, by majorityUN member states viaUnited Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 (Japan voted against ominous UNGA Resolution 2758), soon after US PresidentRichard Nixon'svisit to People's Republic of China in 1972[18] and the release of the "Joint Communiqué of the United States of America and the People's Republic of China," Japan'sLiberal Democratic Party-majority government led byKakuei Tanaka decided to establish formal diplomatic relations with the PRC. Before this, Japan had already had robustnon-governmental trading relations with the PRC without formaldiplomatic recognition. According toThe New York Times, about one month before Japanese Prime Minister Tanaka travelled to Beijing, Japanese business representatives assured Taiwanese business associates and employees in Taipei that economic relations between Japan and Taiwan would be maintained.[19]
As a pre-condition for building ties with the PRC, Japan abrogated and made defunct theSino-Japanese Peace Treaty in relation to the Republic of China. According to the "1972 Japan–China Joint Communiqué", the Japanese government fully understood and respected the position of the government of the PRC that Taiwan was an inalienableterritory of the PRC, and it firmly maintained its stance under Article 8 of thePotsdam Declaration,[20] which stated "The terms of theCairo Declaration shall be carried out and Japanese sovereignty shall be limited to the islands ofHonshū,Hokkaidō,Kyūshū,Shikoku and such minor islands as we determine."
Statements and principles set in theJoint Communiqué of 1972 were written in theTreaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and the People's Republic of China in 1978. Japan and the PRC agreed to continue abiding by the treaty when former Prime Minister of JapanShinzo Abe visitedBeijing on October 8, 2006.
In 1998, Japan and the PRC signed theJapan–China Joint Declaration on Building a Partnership of Friendship and Cooperation for Peace and Development that stated that Japan was to continue to side with the PRC on the "One-China policy", that it "continues to maintain its stand on the Taiwan issue as set forth in the Joint Communiqué of the Government of Japan and the Government of the People's Republic of China and reiterates its understanding that there is only one China." Japan reiterated it will maintain its exchanges with Taiwan, however in a private andregional forms.
Japan grantsTaiwanese passport holdersvisa exemption for 90 days.[21] This rule became effective on September 20, 2005, in line with a move aimed at attracting moretourists to Japan.Jiro Akama, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and Communication was the highest rankingcabinet official since 1972 to visit Taiwan on March 25 to celebrate the tourist event and promote Japanese regional revitalization,[22] amid with the ban of Japanese agricultural exports to Taiwanese public.[23]
In the press conference on January 31, 2006, Deputy Press SecretaryTomohiko Taniguchi announced that, in a speech a year earlier, Minister of Foreign AffairsTarō Asō had expressed concern regarding peace and stability across theTaiwan Strait on the basis of the 1972 Japan–PRC Joint Communiqué. The announcement reiterated the Japanese government's position "that we do not take apolicy oftwo Chinas orone China and one Taiwan."
In 2020 Japan received donations of equipment and supplies as part of Taiwan'smedical diplomacy in response to the COVID-19 epidemic. More than 2 million face masks were delivered in mid April 2020.[24]
As thePeople's Republic of Chinabanned Taiwanese pineapples, the Japanese diplomatic missions in Taipei expressed support for Taiwanese pineapple consumption,[25] and Taiwanese pineapples became a hot commodity in Japan.[26]
Japan has been drawing closer to Taiwan as a result of their concerns over Beijing's economic and military power. In 2021 Japan's annual militarywhite paper explicitly mentioned Taiwan for the first time.[27]
In September 2021, Taiwan donated 10000pulse oximeters and 1008oxygen concentrators to Japan[28][29] Japan Prime MinisterYoshihide Suga thanked Taiwan for the medical equipment, including a "Thank you Taiwan" written intraditional Chinese characters, and adding that Japan and Taiwan have cultivated their friendship by helping each other in times of natural disasters and pandemics.[30][31]
On July 12, 2022, Taiwanese Vice PresidentLai Ching-te attended the funeral ofShinzo Abe atZōjō-ji temple.[32] Lai was instructed by President Tsai Ing-wen to make a visit as a special envoy.[32]
Since 2022, the Japanese government has warned Japanese companies in Taiwan that in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, they must evacuate on their own and that the Japanese government will not assist them.[33]
The earth imagingcubesatONGLAISAT was developed by theTaiwan Space Agency (TASA) in partnership with theUniversity of Tokyo'sIntelligent Space Systems Laboratory. It was launched in 2024. By summer 2025 it had accomplished its research goals.[34][35]
In February 2025, the Japanese government announced that people from Taiwan who marry Japanese nationals would be able to declare their place of origin as Taiwan, replacing the former policy which required them to declare their origin as China. Those already married will be able to update their official documents. The decision was welcomed by the Taiwanese government and condemned by the Chinese government, with the Japanese government responding by stating that it was an "internal decision".[36]
The ROC is a claimant to a group of East China Sea islands (it calls these the Diaoyutai Islands) which are disputed with Japan (which calls them the Senkaku Islands) and the PRC (which calls them the Diaoyu Islands).[37]: 258–259 The United States proposal in 1971 to transfer the islands to Japan prompted the development of theBaodiao movement.[38]: 52 This movement began among students from Taiwan and Hong Kong studying in the United States, and then spread to Taiwan (and also Hong Kong, then under British rule).[38]: 52 Protests directly related to the Baodiao movement ended in 1972.[38]: 52
On 29 September 1990, Japanese media reported that the Japanese Maritime Safety Agency was preparing to recognize (as an official navigation mark) a lighthouse that a right-wing Japanese group built on the main island of the disputed island group.[37]: 258 The Taiwan government protested immediately following the reports.[37]: 258
Japan insists, on the basis ofUnited Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,[39] that Japan is privileged on the fishery demarcation to the southern tip of its surroundingterritorial waters, whereas Taiwan asserts that it participates as a fishing entity in theRegional Fisheries Management Organisation on the basis of United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement, such as the admission ofIATTC,[40] that also applies on the issue of fishery demarcation with Japan.[41][42] There were sixteen fishery conferences in total between the two stakeholders,Interchange Association, Japan[43] andAssociation of East Asian Relations of Taiwan,[44][45] on fishery demarcation from 1996 to 2009, and the dispute ofexclusive economic zone between Japan[46][47] and Taiwan[48] is still not resolved pertaining to future negotiations between the two sides.[49][50][51][52][53] Despite this dispute, the two sides reached a fisheries resource management agreement on April 10, 2013.[54][55][56][57]
A few days after Japan was struck by theTōhoku earthquake in March 2011, the Taiwanese government pledged to donate 100 million NTD to assist Japan.[58] Many Taiwanese citizens and news media also followed suit and urged people to donate to Japan.[59][60] By May 2012, Taiwan had donated up to 6.6 billion NTD from the government and private donations combined.[61] By March 2013, donations had reached US$260.64 million, which is the highest amount from any nation despite only having 23 million people.[62] At this time, it is known that 90 percent of the amount came from private donations.[62] Such number of donations have been the result of Japan's aid to Taiwan when a powerful earthquakehit Taiwan on September 21, 1999, sending a 145-person rescue team and donating US$37 million in aid of the catastrophe.[63] Taiwan's donations assistedFukushima in performing several vital reconstructions, which include rebuilding schools and hospitals.[62][64]
Despite Taiwan being the nation that donated the most money to Japan in response to the earthquake, the government did not publicly thank Taiwan along with other nations. The Japanese government placed ads in multiple nations to show gratitude of the donations, but not Taiwan. This prompted Japanese citizens to thank Taiwan individually. Japanese designerMaiko Kissaka started a fundraiser on April 19, 2020, in an attempt to placeads on two newspapers to show gratitude to the Taiwanese people for donations.[65] This started a series of attempts from individuals and organizations to thank Taiwan for the donations across the next few years.[66][61][67][68][69] A notable organization namedArigatou Taiwan was created for the sole purpose of thanking Taiwan and planned to hold an event each year starting on 2012, and managed to include several earthquake survivors at the event in 2015.[70] In 2018, local governments which were affected by the earthquake started fundraisers to show gratitude for Taiwan's help in 2011.
The Japanese government did not hold any public activities to thank Taiwan at the first few years after the earthquake, and wrote a letter in private to the Taiwanese government to express gratitude instead.[65] However, starting in 2014, the government started holding events publicly in Taiwan to express gratitude, starting from the governments of six prefectures in Japan collaborated for a four-day event in Taipei, Taiwan, aimed to repay the generosity during Japan's earthquake.[71] During the 5th anniversary event of the 2011 earthquake in Taiwan, the Japanese Representative to Taiwan described Taiwan as a "true friend" and further stated "With the gratitude for the generosity of our friends in Taiwan, we vow to try our best to strengthen the relationship between Japan and Taiwan."[72] Japan also stated that its donations of US$1.2 million to Taiwan due to a powerful earthquake hitting southern Taiwan is an attempt to repay Taiwan's generosity a few years ago.[72]
In 2019, the 8th anniversary of the earthquake was held, in which Japan's Representative to Taiwan stated that "There was already a special bond between Japan and Taiwan before the disaster" and that "The northeastern Japan earthquake made [Japan] see it more clearly." These statements contradict what was suggested from Taiwanese newspapers which stated that the donations Taiwan contributed was a turning point between the relations of the two nations.[73] However, it is undeniable that Taiwan and Japan's relations have strengthened a lot due to the exchanges after the catastrophe, both on a governmental and private level.
Due to the closer relations Japan and Taiwan has after the catastrophic event, tourism bloomed between both nations. Japanese tourism to Taiwan rose by 19.9 percent in 2011, which comes with an increase of nearly 50 percent exchange revenue due to this change.[74]
In the context of theCOVID-19 pandemic, Japan sent 1.24 million doses of vaccine to Taiwan for free on June 4, 2021.[75][76] This prompted a wave of gratitude from Taiwanese people,[77] while the PRC condemned Japan's move.[78] This was followed by 5 other shipments over 2021, totaling 4.2 million doses, with the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying it is an expression of warm friendship and good will.[79]
Overseas Chinese schools, like those in many other countries, are administratively and financially supported by the Taiwan (R.O.C.) government'sOverseas Community Affairs Council. In Japan, before 2003,[80][81][82] Overseas Chinese School graduates did not qualify for Japanese college entrance exam. The future task lies on the legalization of the Overseas Chinese School by the Japanese Government and international educational agency accreditation (such asInternational Baccalaureate,Cambridge International Examinations and Advanced Placement accreditation[83]), or similar international recognition of Taiwan's education, for qualifying the legal international status of Overseas Chinese School in Japan. Those supported by the ROC are:
Japan operates threenihonjin gakkō (overseas Japanese schools operated by a Japanese association) on the island of Taiwan:
On April 21, 2010, Taiwan established the Taipei Cultural Center inTokyo, Japan and was subsequently renamedTaiwan Cultural Center. On November 27, 2017, Japan established theJapanese Cultural Center inTaipei, Taiwan.
...ordered the Governor of Nagasaki, Murayama Toan, to invade Formosa with a fleet of thirteen vessels and around 4000 men. Only a hurricane thwarted this effort and forced their early return.
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