Japan-United States relations (Japanese: 日米関係) refers to international relations between Japan and the United States. Relations began in the late 18th and early 19th century, with the diplomatic but force-backed missions of U.S. ship captains James Glynn and Matthew C. Perry to the Tokugawa shogunate. The countries maintained relatively cordial relations after that. Potential disputes were resolved. Japan acknowledged American control of Hawaii and the Philippines and the United States reciprocated regarding Korea. Disagreements about Japanese immigration to the U.S. were resolved in 1907. The two were allies against Germany in World War I.
Japanese–American relations
Map indicating locations of Japan and USA
Japan
United States
Diplomatic mission
Embassy of Japan, Washington, D.C.
Embassy of the United States, Tokyo
Envoy
Japanese Ambassador to the United States Shinsuke J. Sugiyama
American Ambassador to the United States Joseph M. Young
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe with U.S. President Donald Trump at the 45th G7 in Biarritz, August 2019.
Embassy of the United States in Japan.
Embassy of Japan in the United States.
From as early as 1879 and continuing through most of the first four decades of the 1900s the influential Japanese statesmen, Prince Iyesato Tokugawa (1863-1940) and Baron Eiichi Shibusawa (1840-1931) led a major Japanese domestic and international movement advocating goodwill and mutual respect with the United States. Their friendship with the U.S. included allying with seven U.S. presidents, Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson, Harding, Hoover, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It was only after the passing of these two Japanese diplomats and humanitarians that Japanese militants were able to pressure Japan into joining with the Axis Powers in WWII.[1][2]
Starting in 1931, tensions escalated. Japanese actions against China in 1931 and especially after 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War caused the United States to cut off the oil and steel Japan required for their military conquests. Japan responded with attacks on the Allies, including the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, which heavily damaged the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, opening the Pacific theater of World War II. The United States made a massive investment in naval power and systematically destroyed Japan's offensive capabilities while island hopping across the Pacific. To force a surrender, the Americans systematically bombed Japanese cities, culminating in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. Japan surrendered, and was subjected to seven years of military occupation by the United States, during which the American occupiers under General Douglas MacArthur eliminated the military factor and rebuilt the economic and political systems so as to transform Japan into a democracy.
In the 1950s and 1960s Japan, while neutral, grew rapidly by supplying American wars in Korea and Vietnam. The trade relationship has particularly prospered since then, with Japanese automobiles and consumer electronics being especially popular, and Japan became the world's second economic power after the United States. (In 2010 it dropped to third place after China). From the late 20th century and onwards, the United States and Japan have firm and very active political, economic and military relationships. The United States considers Japan to be one of its closest allies and partners.[3][4] Japan is currently one of the most pro-American nations in the world, with 67% of Japanese viewing the United States favorably, according to a 2018 Pew survey;[5] and 75% saying they trust the United States as opposed to 7% for China.[6] Most Americans generally perceive Japan positively, with 81% viewing Japan favorably in 2013, the most favorable perception of Japan in the world.[7]
In recent years, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe has enjoyed good relations with U.S. Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, with several friendly meetings in the United States and Japan, and other international conferences. In May 2019, President Trump became the first foreign leader to meet the new Emperor Naruhito.
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