page_title: Germany–Japan relations
section_title: Current relations
hierarchical_section_title: Germany–Japan relations / History / Post-WWII developments / Current relations
caption_attribution_description: English: Duesseldorf: Shochiku (松竹) Supermarket in Japanese Business District, Düsseldorf Deutsch: Düsseldorf: Shochiku (松竹) Supermarkt im Japanischen Geschäftsviertel, Düsseldorf 日本語: 松竹 スーパーマーケット - ジュッセルドルフ
context_page_description: The relations between Germany and Japan were officially established in 1861 with the first ambassadorial visit to Japan from Prussia. Japan modernized rapidly after the Meiji Restoration of 1867, often using German models through intense intellectual and cultural exchange. After 1900 Japan aligned itself with Britain, and Germany and Japan were enemies in World War I. Japan declared war on the German Empire in 1914 and seized key German possessions in China and the Pacific.
  In the 1930s, both countries adopted aggressive militaristic attitudes toward their respective regions. This led to a rapprochement and, eventually, a political and military alliance that included Italy: the "Axis". During World War II, however, the alliance was limited by the great distances between the Axis powers; for the most part, Japan and Germany fought separate wars, and eventually surrendered separately.
  After the Second World War, the economies of both nations experienced rapid recoveries; bilateral relations, now focused on economic issues, were soon re-established.
context_section_description: In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Germany and Japan, being the United Nations' second and third largest funders respectively, demanded a reform of the United Nations Security Council and an increase of the number of its permanent members. For this purpose both nations organized themselves together with Brazil and India to form the so-called "G4 nations". On 21 September 2004, the G4 issued a joint statement mutually backing each other's claim to permanent seats, together with two African countries. This proposal has found opposition in a group of countries called Uniting for Consensus. In January 2006, Japan announced that it would not support putting the G4 resolution back on the table and was working on a resolution of its own.
  
  Certain inefficiencies with respect to the bilateral cooperation between Germany and Japan were also reflected in 2005, when former Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa wrote in a commemoration to the 20th anniversary of the Japanese-German Center in Berlin that 
  the German-Japanese relations are generally good and there are no particular bilateral problems. This results in a certain indifference, which may be considered a problem by now.
  — PM Kiichi Miyazawa (2005)
  Nevertheless, as of 2008, Japan still was Germany's second largest trading partner in Asia after China. In 2006, German imports from Japan totaled €15.6 billion and German exports to Japan €14.2 billion (15.4% and 9% more than the previous year, respectively). In 2008, however, Japanese exports and imports to and from the European Union fell by 7.8 and 4.8% after growing by 5.8% in 2007 due to the global financial crisis. Bilateral trade between Germany and Japan also shrank in 2008, with imports from Japan having dropped by 6.6% and German exports to Japan having declined by 5.5%. Despite Japan having remained Germany's principal trading partner in Asia after China in 2008, measured in terms of total German foreign trade, Japan's share of both exports and imports is relatively low and falls well short of the potential between the world's third- and fifth-largest economies.
  Unaffected by any stagnating German-Japanese trade relations, the Japanese community in Düsseldorf, home to Europe's largest Japantown, is growing again after a decline in the 1980s and 1990s. In 2008, over 8000 Japanese lived in the Düsseldorf area, which features a Japanese school, two kindergartens, three libraries and numerous Japanese clubs. Moreover, over 200 Japanese companies are active in that region, creating over 20,000 jobs. The Japanese community is widely considered a great asset for Düsseldorf.
  
  On 14 and 15 January 2010, German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle conducted his personal inaugural visit to Japan, focusing the talks with his Japanese counterpart, Katsuya Okada, on both nation's bilateral relations and global issues. Westerwelle emphasized, that 
  We want to make our joint contribution towards ensuring that this decade is a decade of disarmament – not a decade of armament
  — Guido Westerwelle about German-Japanese cooperation (15 January 2010)
   and both ministers instructed their Ministries to draw up disarmament initiatives and strategies which Berlin and Tokyo can present to the international community together. Especially with regard to Iran's nuclear program, it was also stressed that Japan and Germany, both technically capable of and yet refraining from possessing any ABC weapons, should assume a leading role in realizing a world free of nuclear weapons and that international sanctions are considered to be an appropriate instrument of pressure. Furthermore, Westerwelle and Okada agreed to enhance cooperation in Afghanistan and to step up the stagnating bilateral trade between both countries. The visit was concluded in talks with Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, before which the German foreign minister visited the famous Meiji Shrine in the heart of Tokyo.
  On Friday 11 March 2011, the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the most powerful known earthquake to hit Japan at the time, and one of the five most powerful recorded earthq
caption: A Japanese supermarket in Düsseldorf, home of Europe's largest Japantown.
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