Japan–United Kingdom Relations
The history of relations between Japan and Great Britain can be divided into four stages: the beginning of full relations in the mid-nineteenth century, the alliance, interwar, and post–World War II.
Although the first contact between the two nations was in the early seventeenth century, full relations began in the last part of the Tokugawa period (1600/1603–1868). During the Meiji period (1868–1912), Britain played a major role in the modernization of Japan by helping in the establishment of the Japanese navy and the planning and construction of railroads and factories. Meiji leaders regarded Britain, the pioneer of the industrial revolution, as a model for modern economic and social institutions.
Meiji leaders sought treaty reform as another goal for Japan in its relations with the West. Revision of the Unequal Treaties sought to abolish foreigners' judicial and economic privileges. The Anglo-Japanese Commercial Treaty of 1894 prescribed termination of extraterritoriality, provided that Japan reformed its legal institutions along Western lines. Even though Japan did not get complete tariff autonomy until 1911, British treaties facilitated negotiations with other Western countries.
Japan and Great Britain were allies during the early twentieth century. The Anglo-Japanese Alliance (1902–1923), directed against Russian expansion in the Far East, assisted Japan in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905). It was renewed two times, which obligated Japan's participation in World War I as a British ally. After the war, the significance of the Alliance for Britain decreased, and the United States viewed Japan as a strong competitor in East Asia. At the Washington Conference (1921–1922), the United States forced Japan to end the Alliance, which was replaced by the Four Power Pact.
As Japan became an increasingly powerful nation, relations with Great Britain suffered, mainly because of political and economic disputes in Asia, especially trade disputes with China. After the Manchurian Incident of 1931, trade conflict became more intense, and at the conclusion of the Tripartite Pact of September 1940, Japan's ties with Germany and Italy strained relations further still. On 8 December 1941, Japan declared war against Great Britain and the United States, and attacked Britain's colonies in Southeast Asia.
Relations between Japan and Great Britain began to improve after World War II. Britain ratified the Multilateral Peace Treaty in 1952. In the 1960s, new trade treaties were concluded between the two countries. Exchange of royal visits in the 1970s symbolized more open communication between the two nations. Good relations continue in the early 2000s, with exchanges in every sphere.
Heisei Period; Meiji Period; Showa Period; Taisho Period; World War II
Further Reading
Brown, Kenneth Douglas. (1998) Britain and Japan: A Comparative Economic and Social History Since 1900. Manchester, U.K.: Manchester University Press.
Buckley, Roger. (1982) Occupation Diplomacy: Britain, the United States, and Japan, 1945–1952. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.
Lowe, Peter. (1969) Great Britain and Japan, 1911–1915: A Study of British Far Eastern Policy. London: Macmillan.
Nish, Ian Hill. (1985) The Anglo-Japanese Alliance: The Diplomacy of Two Island Empires, 1894–1907. London: Athlone Press.
Nish, Ian Hill, and Yoich Kibata, eds. (2000) The History of Anglo-Japanese Relations. New York: St. Martin's Press.
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