Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam and Japan are this year celebrating 45 years oftheir diplomatic ties, but bilateral relations date back to the 8th century. The over-1,000-year connections are now in their prime, with twocountries in an Extensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity inAsia.

Inthe 8th century, a monk named “Phat Triet” (Buttetsu) who came fromChampa, an ancient kingdom that extended across the coast of what is todaycentral Vietnam, introduced Rinyu-gaku – a composite ritual art comprisingorchestral music and dance – to Japan. This event is considered the beginningof the two countries’ relations.

The prime ofpolitical relations

Weatheringups and downs in history, Vietnam and Japan established diplomatic ties onSeptember 21, 1973, heralding a new era in their relations.

Sincethen, bilateral friendship has been strengthened by generations of leaders andpeople, becoming a precious asset of both sides.

Sincethe first visit to Japan by a Vietnamese Prime Minister – Vo Van Kiet – in 1993and the first trip to the Southeast Asian nation by a Japanese Prime Minister –Tomiichi Murayama – the following year, the two countries have graduallyenhanced bilateral links.

InOctober 2006, Vietnam and Japan issued a joint statement towards the StrategicPartnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia. Nearly three years later, inApril 2009, the Joint Statement on the Strategic Partnership for Peace andProsperity in Asia was released.

Thispartnership was elevated to a new level in March 2014 when they set up theExtensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia, helping makestrong strides in their ties over recent years.


Notably,there were five mutual high-ranking visits in 2017 alone, including a State visitby Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko in March, an official visit inJanuary and a working trip in November by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abeand an official tour by Speaker of the Japanese House of Representatives Tadamori Oshima in May. Vietnamese PrimeMinister Nguyen Xuan Phuc paid an official visit to the Northeast Asian nationin June last year.

Mostrecently, President Tran Dai Quang made a State visit to Japan in May 2018,creating further momentum for the countries’ relations.

Ina recent interview with Vietnam News Agency, Shigeki Takizaki, Director Generalof the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Southeast and Southwest Asian AffairsDepartment, said bilateral connections have developed sustainably over the past45 years, with the scope of cooperation expanded.

Thetrip to Vietnam by the Japanese Emperor and Empress in 2017 and a reciprocal visitby Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang this year proved the countries’relations have reached their highest-ever level, he noted.

Inparliamentary ties, mutual visits and meetings between committees haveincreased. The Vietnam – Japan Friendship Parliamentary Group and the Japan –Vietnam Friendship Parliamentary Alliance have maintained contact and effectivecooperation.

Bilateraldialogue mechanisms have also been sustained, including the Vietnam – JapanCooperation Committee chaired by foreign ministers, the Strategic PartnershipDialogue on diplomacy, security and defence between deputy foreign ministersand the Defence Policy Dialogue and the Security Dialogue at the deputyministerial level.

JapaneseAmbassador to Vietnam Umeda Kunio said the two countries’ relationship is nowin its best period, adding that amidst a changing world, it is increasinglyimportant to reinforce bilateral cooperation.

Hesaid: “In recent years, high-ranking delegation exchanges between the twocountries have been held more and more regularly, the trust between theirleaders has been increasingly profound, showing that Japan has special respectfor relations and cooperation with Vietnam.”

Leading economicpartners

Vietnamand Japan also boast long-standing economic ties which date back to the late 16th century, when Hoi An trading port, located in today’s central Quang Namprovince, welcomed merchant vessels from Japan and became a trading centre ofJapan with countries in Southeast Asia.

Nowadays,Japan is Vietnam’s second biggest foreign investor and ranks fourth among its tradepartners.

Accordingto Ambassador Umeda Kunio, economic partnerships have been growing strongly.More and more Japanese businesses have paid attention to Vietnam in recentyears, as seen in the rising numbers of investment projects and Japanese firmsin the country. In particular, projects aiming to serve the Vietnamese market,instead of for export purposes, have increased.

Henoted that Japanese firms investing in Vietnam have numbered more than 3,100, up40 percent in the last four years.

Interms of trade, they have given each other the most-favoured-nation treatment since1999 and signed the Vietnam – Japan Economic Partnership Agreement in December2008, creating a favourable legal framework for closer trade links.

Lastyear, bilateral trade reached 33.84 billion USD, up 13.8 percent year on year.That included nearly 17 billion USD worth of Vietnamese exports, up 14.9percent, reported the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

Meanwhile,the countries inked the Investment Liberalisation, Promotion and Protection Agreementin November 2003.


Japan’sdirect investment in Vietnam hit a record 9.1 billion USD in 2017, equivalentto 25 percent of total foreign direct investment here. As of August 2018, Japanhad 3,865 valid projects worth more than 55 billion USD, ranking second among129 countries and territories investing in the ASEAN nation.

Regardingofficial development assistance (ODA), Japan is currently the biggest providerfor Vietnam, with its ODA accounting for some 30 percent of the total figurepledged to the country.

Manyprojects built with Japanese support have been put into use and contributed tolocal development, such as Terminal 2 of Noi Bai International Airport, NhatTan Bridge, Can Tho Bridge, Hai Van Tunnel, Hai Phong Port, Bach Mai and ChoRay hospitals, and urban railway lines in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

ReceivingPresident of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Shinichi Kitaoka in Hanoi on September 14,Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said Japanese ODA has contributed tosocio-economic development in Vietnam, especially infrastructure expansion.

Shinichi Kitaoka said Vietnam’s economy and society havedeveloped very well over the last three decades, and he is happy thatdevelopment is partly attributable to Japanese ODA.

The Northeast Asian country is also assisting Vietnam todevelop industry in the latter’s industrialisation strategy within theframework of bilateral cooperation.

Flourishingcooperation in all spheres

Aside from strengthened political and economic ties, the twocountries’ connections in culture, education – training, labour andpeople-to-people exchange have also developed.

According to the Vietnam – Japan FriendshipAssociation, more than 260,000 Vietnamese are working, studying and living inJapan, up by almost four-fold in the last five years and making Vietnamese the fifthlargest foreign community in Japan. Meanwhile, there are nearly 20,000 Japanesein the Southeast Asian nation.


Japan has become the third biggest source offoreign tourists to Vietnam with nearly 800,000 visitors last year. The VietnamFestival in Japan as well as the Japan Festival and the Cherry Blossom Festivalof Japan in Vietnam have been held annually and have become much-anticipated events.

In education – training, Japan is one of thebiggest non-refundable aid suppliers for Vietnam. The two sides have signedmany cooperation agreements in this field. Notably, the Vietnam JapanUniversity, based in Hanoi, is seen as a “lighthouse” project in bilateralrelations.

Japanese Ministry of Justice data shows that bythe end of October 2017, there were more than 240,000 Vietnamese working inJapan, 18.8 percent of the foreign workers there. Vietnamese form the secondbiggest community of foreign workers in Japan, following Chinese.

Stronger locality-to-locality links can also beseen in recent years. Thirty-seven pairs of localities have inked cooperationagreements, helping facilitate bilateral connections, especially in trade,investment and technology transfer.

Cooperation in other areas like agriculture, hightechnology, environment and climate change response has also expanded.

Katsuhito Asano, former Senior Vice Minister ofForeign Affairs of Japan, told Vietnam News Agency that after 45 years, Vietnam– Japan relations have been bolstered through not only stable political tiesand expanding trade but also people-to-people exchange and cooperation ineducation, culture and sports. 

DeputyPrime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh called the cooperation withJapan one of the most successful external relations of Vietnam, adding the45-year path of bilateral relations will continue to bear fruit thanks to theincreasingly strong cohesion between the two nations. –VNA