WikipediaExtracts:Germany-Japan relations
Extracted from Wikipedia --
Germany–Japan relations (German: Deutsch-japanische Beziehungen; Japanese: 日独関係, romanized: Nichidokukankei) are the current and historical relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and Japan. As of 2025, Germany and Japan are world's 3rd and 4th largest economies by nominal GDP. They maintain extensive political, cultural, scientific and economic cooperation. Japan also has close relations with the European Union, of which Germany is the most populous member.
Japan had limited contact with Germans during its isolationist sakoku period, via the Dutch trading port of Dejima. During the bakumatsu opening period, the Kingdom of Prussia established diplomatic relations in 1860 with the Eulenburg expedition. Japan modernized rapidly after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, often using German models through intense intellectual and cultural exchange. After aligning with Britain in 1902, the Empire of Japan declared war on the German Empire in 1914, one month into World War I. Japan fought one major battle in the war's Asia-Pacific theatre, the Siege of Tsingtao. It acquired from Germany its Kiautschou Bay Leased Territory leading to the Shandong Problem, as well as the South Seas Mandate.
In the 1930s, both countries adopted aggressive ultranationalist attitudes toward their respective regions, Nazism and Japanese militarism, leading to a rapprochement. The Anti-Comintern Pact between the countries grew into the political and military alliance known as the Axis powers, to which Fascist Italy and other countries later acceded. The countries also developed an industrial cooperation, and initially used the Trans-Siberian Railway. During World War II, however, due to the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Japan and Germany fought the largely separate Pacific War and European theatre, only exchanging cargo via the Yanagi and U-boat submarine missions. Germany surrendered in May 1945, three months before Japan.
After World War II, the Allies occupied Germany until 1949 and the US occupied Japan until 1952. Among worldwide growth, Germany experienced the Wirtschaftswunder ("economic miracle") and Japan later saw its own economic miracle. Bilateral relations, now focused on economic issues, were soon re-established. Both countries are members of economic organizations including the G7, G20, OECD, and World Trade Organization. They are also members of the G4 nations and the International Criminal Court. Among their scientific cooperation, both countries contribute to the ITER nuclear fusion program, and via the European Space Agency and JAXA.
According to a late 2023 Bertelsmann Foundation Poll, the Germans view Japan overwhelmingly positively, and regard that nation as less a competitor and more a partner. The Japanese views of Germany are positive as well, with 97% viewing Germany positively and only 3% viewing Germany negatively.
