The relations between Armenia and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, were officially established on 7 September 1992. Armenia's President Robert Kocharyan paid an official visit to Japan in December 2001, holding meetings with Japan's Emperor and Prime Minister. He announced that the nation was planning to set up an embassy in Tokyo as soon as possible.

History

Due largely to Diana Apcar's effort, Japan was one of the first nations to recognize the Armenian republic as an independent nation on July 22, 1920. Apcar was appointed Honorary Consul to Japan, in a letter by Hamo Ohanjanian, Foreign Minister of the

First Republic of Armenia The First Republic of Armenia, officially known at the time of its existence as the Republic of Armenia ( hy, Հայաստանի Հանրապետութիւն), was the first modern Armenian state since the loss of Armenian statehood in the Middle ...

, “for defending the interests of the newly-born Fatherland, and mitigating the conditions of our compatriots…”. The relations between Armenia and Japan were officially reestablished on 7 September 1992. Prior to this, relations were through the Soviet Union. Originally, Armenia was represented at Japan's Beijing embassy, and Japan was represented at Armenia's Moscow embassy. The Armenian embassy in Tokyo was opened on 13 July 2010, and the Japanese embassy in Yerevan was built on 1 January 2015. Armenia initially did not have an

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

to Japan, until May 2012, when Grant Pogosyan was appointed as the Armenian ambassador. On 29 June 2017, it was announced by the Japanese Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Motome Takisawa that visa requirements for Armenian nationals will be relaxed, beginning on 1 September 2017, and on 31 August 2017, Armenia lifted visa requirements for Japanese citizens.

Armenian genocide

During World War I, the

Japanese Empire The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...

was involved in the Entente against the Central Powers, placing Japan against the Ottoman Empire, who later committed the Armenian genocide. Alarmed by the genocide, Japanese Viscount Shibusawa Eiichi began a relief effort to rescue Armenian population, his role has been well perceived by the Armenian community who managed to survive in this dark era. Despite this, World War II and subsequent

Japanese war crimes The Empire of Japan committed war crimes in many Asian-Pacific countries during the period of Japanese militarism, Japanese imperialism, primarily during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Second Sino-Japanese and Pacific Wars. These incidents have b ...

have prevented Japan from acknowledging the genocide, in fear of political backlash.

References

External links

Embassy of Armenia in Japan website

A website dedicated to Japanese and Armenian relationships
{{DEFAULTSORT:Armenia-Japan Relations

Bilateral relations of Japan

History

Armenian genocide

See also

Further reading

References

External links