Germany–Japan relations (; ), also referred to as German–Japanese relations, were officially established in 1861 with the first ambassadorial visit to Japan from Prussia (which predated the formation of the German Empire in 1866/1870). Japan modernized rapidly after the Meiji Restoration of 1867, often using German models through intense intellectual and cultural exchange. After Japan aligned itself with Britain in 1900, Germany and Japan became 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 known as the Axis Powers. 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. Today, Japan and Germany are, respectively, the third and fourth largest economies in the world, and benefit greatly from many kinds of political, cultural, scientific and economic cooperation.
According to a late 2012 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.
History
First contacts and end of Japanese isolation (before 1871)
Relations between Japan and Germany date from the Tokugawa shogunate (1603–1868), when Germans in Dutch service arrived in Japan to work for the Dutch East India Company (VOC). The first well-documented cases are those of the physicians Engelbert Kaempfer (1651–1716) and Philipp Franz Balthasar von Siebold (1796–1866) in the 1690s and 1820s, respectively. Both accompanied the director of the Dutch trading post at Dejima on the obligatory voyage to Edo to pay tribute to the shōgun. Siebold became the author of Nippon, Archiv zur Beschreibung von Japan (Nippon, Archive for the Description of Japan), one of the most valuable sources of information on Japan well into the 20th century; since 1979, his achievements have been recognised with an annual German award in his honour, the Philipp Franz von Siebold-Preis, granted to Japanese scientists. Von Siebold's second visit to Japan (1859–1862) became a disaster because he tried to influence Dutch politics in Japan and attempted to obtain a permanent post as a diplomat in that country.
In 1854, the United States pressured Japan into the Convention of Kanagawa, which ended Japan's isolation. It was considered an "unequal treaty" by the Japanese public, since the US did not reciprocate most of Japan's concessions with similar privileges. In many cases, Japan was effectively forced into a system of extraterritoriality that provided for the subjugation of foreign residents to the laws of their own consular courts instead of the Japanese law system, open up ports for trade, and later even allow Christian missionaries to enter the country. Shortly after the end of Japan's seclusion, in a period called "Bakumatsu" (幕末, "End of the Shogunate"), the first German traders arrived in Japan. In 1860, Count Friedrich Albrecht zu Eulenburg led the Eulenburg Expedition to Japan as ambassador from Prussia, a leading regional state in the German Confederation at that time. After four months of negotiations, another "unequal treaty", officially dedicated to amity and commerce, was signed in January 1861 between Prussia and Japan.
Despite being considered one of the numerous unjust negotiations pressed on Japan during that time, the Eulenburg Expedition, and both the short- and long-term consequences of the treaty of amity and commerce, are today honoured as the beginning of official Japanese-German relations. To commemorate its 150th anniversary, events were held in both Germany and Japan from autumn 2010 through autumn 2011 hoping "to 'raise the treasures of [their] common past' in order to build a bridge to the future."