Japan–Qatar relations
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Japan–Qatar relations are the
bilateral relations Bilateralism is the conduct of political, economic, or cultural relations between two sovereign states. It is in contrast to unilateralism or multilateralism, which is activity by a single state or jointly by multiple states, respectively. When ...
between
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 ...
and
Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...
. Diplomatic relations were established in 1972. The two countries share strong economic ties, with Japan being Qatar's foremost trading partner, and Qatar ranking as Japan's sixth most significant import partner in 2016. Japan has an embassy in
Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...
. Qatar also has an embassy in
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
. In 2023, Japan declared Qatar one of its visa-exempt countries.


Diplomatic visits

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Qatar in August 2013. Oil and gas agreements and investment opportunities were discussed during the visit. In February 2015, Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani made an official visit to Japan. The purpose of the trip was to discuss ways in which to further strengthen bilateral ties. On 28 September 2022, on the occasion of the state funeral for Shinzo Abe, Japan's former prime minister, in Tokyo, Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani was one of only seven heads of state which met with Japanese Emperor Naruhito. In July 2023, Japanese Prime Minister
Fumio Kishida is a Japanese politician serving as Prime Minister of Japan and president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) since 2021. A member of the House of Representatives, he previously served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2012 to 2017 and ...
visited Qatar and held talks with Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. They discussed improving energy ties and bilateral relations in economy, defense, security and academic exchange.


Political cooperation

Japan established the Japanese Parliamentary Association for Friendship with the State of Qatar in 2010 in an effort to improve bilateral relations. After
ISIS Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...
militants in
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
kidnapped Japanese citizens
Kenji Goto was a Japanese freelance video journalist covering wars and conflicts, refugees, poverty, AIDS, and child education around the world. In October 2014, he was captured and held hostage by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants after ent ...
and Haruna Yakawa in
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
in 2014, Qatar attempted to negotiate their release, but ultimately failed. On 5 June 2017, a number of Arab states
severed ties ''Severed Ties'' is the debut studio album by Australian post-hardcore band the Amity Affliction. It was released on 4 October 2008 through Boomtown Records, which debuted at No. 26 on the ARIA Charts, ARIA Albums Chart, and No. 6 on ...
with Qatar over its alleged funding of terrorist groups and its purported ties with
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. As a result of the diplomatic crisis, shipping costs have increased, which has affected the status of regional trade conducted by Japanese companies. Qatar, being the world's second-largest helium producer, provided Japan with roughly a quarter of its helium supply prior to the crisis. However, after the crisis erupted, sanctions imposed on Qatar by its neighbors prevented its helium shipments from arriving in Japan. Following an official visit to
Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...
in September 2017 by Japanese FM
Tarō Kōno is a Japanese politician serving as the Minister of Digital Affairs of Japan since August 2022. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, he previously served as Minister for Administrative Reform and Regulatory Reform from 2015 to 2016 and fro ...
, Japan's foreign ministry stated its willingness to help solve the dispute, and affirmed its support for
Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
i and American attempts at mediation.


Economic relations

In the 1930s, Qatar's economy was largely based on pearl diving. The development of
cultured pearls Cultured pearls are formed within a cultured pearl sac with human intervention in the interior of productive living molluscs in a variety of conditions depending upon the mollusc and the goals. Just as the same as natural pearls, cultured pearls ...
by Japanese industry devastated the price of natural pearls and Qatar's economy. In 1996, Japan entered into an agreement with Qatar to import 6 million tonnes of
LNG Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volu ...
for the next 25 years. Qatar's first LNG shipment to Japan arrived at the beginning of 1997, marking the first LNG export in Qatar's history. Japan accounted for 50.6% of all of Qatar's crude oil exports in 2004. During the same period, Japan was also Qatar's largest customer for LNG exports. Overall, Japan was Qatar's most significant trading partner in 2005, and accounted for around 40% of the value for all of Qatar's exports. Furthermore, Japanese products accounted for 11.6% of the value for all of Qatar's imports, representing the highest value among all of Qatar's trade partners. In April 2006, an economic agreement was signed between Qatar and Japan. Also that year, the inaugural meeting of the Japan-Qatar Joint Economic Committee took place. The Qatar-Japan Business Forum was held in Qatar in August 2013, during the visit by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. There were an estimated 50 Japanese companies with offices in Qatar in 2015. In 2015, when Qatar finalized the purchase of 24 fighter jets from
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, Japanese banks agreed to lend Qatar $6.8 billion for a down payment. Japan was the main destination for Qatari LNG in 2016, importing 12.1 million tonnes. This provided Japan with roughly one-fifth of its annual LNG requirement. When several Arab nations severed ties with Qatar in June 2017, Japanese LNG buyers tried negotiating cheaper deals, which provoked Qatar to issue a warning that it may look elsewhere for buyers.


Disaster aid

In the aftermath of the
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...
, Emir
Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Hamad bin Abdullah bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani ( ar, حمد بن خليفة الثاني; born 1 January 1952) is a member of the ruling Al Thani Qatari royal family. He was the ruling Emir of Qatar from 1995 ...
pledged $100 million in aid to Japan. In 2012, Qatar created the Qatar Friendship Fund (QFF) with the aim of spending the $100 million to help victims in the
Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (''ken''): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku retains a ...
. The economic impact of the fund could generate an estimated ¥180 billion for the ten years following its creation.


Cultural relations

On Qatar and Japan's 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations,
Qatar Museums Qatar Museums (formerly the Qatar Museums Authority) is a Qatari government entity that oversees the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Museum of Islamic Art (MIA), Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, MIA Park, QM Gallery at Katara (cultural village), ...
, in collaboration with a number of Qatari ministries, launched the Qatar Japan 2012 Year of Culture. Events featuring Japanese traditional dance,
music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
,
theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
and
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
were held in Qatar throughout the year. The Japanese Embassy in Doha is active in organizing cultural events in Qatar. In an attempt to showcase Japanese culture, the embassy launched Japan Week in November 2015.


Migration

There are roughly 981 Japanese citizens living in Qatar as of February 2015.


See also

* Japan School of Doha


References


External links


Embassy of Japan in the State of Qatar

Embassy of the State of Qatar in Japan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Japan-Qatar relations
Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...
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 ...