Japan–Philippines relations (; ) span a period from before the 16th century to the present. According to a 2011 BBC World Service Poll, 84% of Filipinos view Japan's influence positively, with 12% expressing a negative view, making the Philippines one of the most pro-Japanese countries in the world.
Early Japan-Philippines Interactions
Relations between Japan and the kingdoms in the Philippines date back to at least the pre-colonial period of Filipino history or the Muromachi period of Japanese history. Austronesian speakers presumably from the Philippines and Taiwan, known as the Hayato and Kumaso, were immigrants to Japan and even served in the Imperial Court. These Austronesians have possible Native American ancestry as Native Americans and Austronesians interacted with each other in the spread of sweet potato to the Pacific even before the Spanish invasion. The Sweet Potato possibly even reached Japan before the Spanish colonization, through the Austronesian-Amerindian connection. Mishima ware imported from Luzon-Philippines were also traded in Japan; these were especially sourced from the Filipino kingdoms of Tondo, Manila, and Pangasinan at Luzon island, as these traded with Japan. Likewise, the natives of the Philippines helped shelter Japanese merchants and traders in northern Luzon in 1440, while 20 Japanese traders were also recorded in Manila by 1517. In 1580, while Filipino natives were helping Japanese sailors, a Japanese pirate named Tayfusa colonized parts of Cagayan in northern Luzon, establishing his own kingdom. In 1582, the Spanish arrived in Cagayan to colonize it for themselves. This led to the 1582 Cagayan battles, which resulted to the expulsion of Tayfusa's forces.
Around 1600, an the area of Dilao, a district of Manila, was a Nihonmachi of around 3,000 Japanese or Filipinos with Japanese descent. The term probably originated from the Tagalog term 'dilaw', meaning 'yellow', which describes their general physiognomy. The Japanese had established quite early an enclave at Dilao where they numbered between 300 and 400 in 1593. In 1603, during the Sangley rebellion, they numbered 1,500, and 3,000 in 1606. In the 16th and 17th centuries, thousands of Japanese people traders also migrated to the Philippines and assimilated into the local population. pp. 52–3
In 1593, Spanish authorities in Manila authorized the dispatch of Franciscan missionaries to Japan. The Franciscan friar Luis Sotelo was involved in the support of the Dilao enclave between 1600 and 1608.
In the first half of the 17th century, intense official trade took place between the two countries, through the Red seal ships system. Thirty official "Red seal ship" passports were issued between Japan and the Philippines between 1604 and 1616.
The Japanese led an abortive rebellion in Dilao against the Spanish Empire in 1606–1607, but their numbers rose again until the interdiction of Christianity by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1614, when 300 Japanese Christian refugees under Takayama Ukon settled in the Philippines. On 8 November 1614, together with 300 Japanese Christians Takayama Ukon left his home country from Nagasaki. He arrived at Manila on 21 December and was greeted warmly by the Spanish Jesuits and the local Filipinos there. The Spanish Philippines offered its assistance in overthrowing the Japanese government by invasion to protect Japanese Catholics. Justo declined to participate and died of illness just 40 days afterward. These 17th-century immigrants are at the origin of some of today's 200,000-strong Japanese population in the Philippines.
More rebellions such as one known as the Tondo conspiracy by Filipinos against Spain, had Japanese merchants and Christians involved, but the conspiracy was disbanded. Toyotomi Hideyoshi threatened the Spanish to leave or face full scale Japanese invasion, however, this was near his decline and death. The Tokugawa Shogunate rose in power right after.
In the 17th century (1633 & 1635), Japan established an isolationist (sakoku) policy, and contacts between the two nations were severed until after the opening of Japan in 1854. In the 16th and 17th centuries, thousands of Japanese traders also migrated to the Philippines and assimilated into the local population. In 1888, Filipino national hero Jose Rizal arrived in Japan and had a relationship with Seiko Usui (Osei-san), a daughter of a samurai.