Japan and Pakistan established bilateral relations on 28 April 1952. The Dominion of Pakistan had made significant efforts to lift the Allied occupation of Japan. During the Cold War, both countries were part of the Western Bloc. Pakistan played a major role in rebuilding the Japanese economy via mass exports and waiving war reparations owed to the country by Japan. Relations between Japan and Pakistan have generally remained stable, with the exception of the time period in which India and Pakistan were subject to Japanese sanctions due to their nuclear weapons tests in 1998. Relations have once again improved since then, with Pakistan receiving over ¥260 billion in grants and aid from Japan as well as around ¥3 billion in investments. As of 2022, there are 993 Japanese nationals residing in Pakistan whereas 22,118 Pakistani nationals are residing in Japan. About 20,000 Japanese tourists visited Pakistan between 2007-2008 and continue to express an interest in doing so, focusing on Pakistan's Buddhist sites. Pakistan is primarily represented through its embassy in Tokyo and Japan is represented through its embassy in Islamabad. As of 2015, bilateral trade between Japan and Pakistan stood at US$1.9 billion.
Timeline
Japan was among the first nations to recognize Pakistan's sovereignty, doing so three days after the latter's independence on 14 August 1947. Diplomatic relations between the two were officially established in April 1952 following the end of the Allied occupation of Japan.
The newly founded Dominion of Pakistan played a significant role from 1947 to 1951 in efforts to lift the Allied occupation of Japan and restoring Japan's sovereignty. Pakistan was described by U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles as the 'tower of strength' on the Treaty of San Francisco, a peace treaty signed between Japan and the Allies on 8 September 1951 in San Francisco. Unlike many other Asian countries, Pakistan waived war reparations from Japan to help the latter build its economy. Pakistan was also among the first few countries that ratified the Japanese peace treaty. Pakistan was a member of Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO).
Pakistan played a leading role in Japan's postwar economic revival in the 1950s by majorly exporting cotton and jute to Japan as textiles was practically the only industry allowed to continue under the Allied occupation. SCAP-Japan sent its first trade mission to Pakistan in May 1948, headed by R. Eaton. Two months later, Japan signed a trade agreement with Pakistan, which was also the first trade agreement signed by Japan with any country after the war. Much of Pakistan's export was on deferred payment as Japan was short of foreign exchange. In exchange for cotton and jute, Pakistan imported textile machinery from Japan. Therefore, a mutually beneficial trade relationship emerged between them. Furthermore, a Japanese trading liaison agency was established in Karachi in 1948, which also served as a diplomatic source for Japan after the war. Pakistan sent its first trade mission to Japan under Mirza Abul Isphahani in September 1948 to review the Japanese textile industry for Pakistan's benefit. Another SCAP-Japan trade mission, headed by E.B. Blatcheley, visited Pakistan in February 1949 and two more trade missions, led by B.W. Adams and A.B. Snell respectively, visited Pakistan to negotiate cotton and jute for the Japanese industry. These visits paved the way for many other trade delegations to Pakistan to enhance trade and to promote other economic activities between the two countries.
Mutual diplomacy
Before regular diplomatic relations were established between Pakistan and Japan, the trade liaison offices in Karachi and Tokyo, working since 1948, were the only sources of trade and diplomatic contacts. Both countries established regular diplomatic missions on 18 April 1952, just ten days after the ratification of the Japanese peace treaty. Therefore, Pakistan established diplomatic and trade contacts with Japan since 1948 – long before Japanese sovereignty was restored by the Allied Powers.
In order to meet the acute shortage of food in Japan caused after the war, Pakistan shipped 60,000 tons of rice through Nichimen vessels to Japan in 1952 and 1953 carrying the signboard ‘Donated Rice to the Emperor of Japan by the Government of Pakistan’. Such was the national sentiment between the two sides in the 1950s.