Japan–Sweden relations are the bilateral relations of Japan and the Kingdom of Sweden. Contacts between the two countries can be traced back to the 18th century when Carl Peter Thunberg, a disciple of the botanist Carl Linnaeus, came to Japan for plant collecting and researching. This made him the first Swedish national to visit Japan.[1]

The formal diplomatic relations of Japan and Sweden was established by the signing of Swedish-Japanese Treaty in 1868,[2] which was also the first treaty the Meiji Government made with a foreign state.[3]: 2  During the first decade of the 20th century, the two countries started opening legations in Tokyo and Stockholm, then promoted to embassies in 1957.[1]

Japan is Sweden's second largest trading partner in Asia,[4] and some Swedish policies on welfare, population ageing and international affairs like peacekeeping and official development assistance have been taken concern, or even example of, by Japan.[5] The bilateral relations are also strengthened through state visits, royal visits, cultural or academic exchanges from both side.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Japan-Sweden Relations (Overview)". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. 17 November 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  2. ^ スウェーデン基礎データ. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (in Japanese). 17 November 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  3. ^ Ingemar Ottosson, Trade under protest: Sweden, Japan and the East Asian crisis in the 1930s (pdf), Lund University, retrieved 29 January 2015
  4. ^ "Japan". Regeringskansliet (in Swedish). 23 January 2015. Archived from the original on 31 January 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  5. ^ 吉武信彦 (2000). 日本・北欧政治関係の史的展開 [A Political Dialogue between Japan and the Nordic Countries: Japanese Views] (PDF). 地域政策研究 (in Japanese). 第3卷: 31–33, 38–40. Archived from the original (pdf) on 2014-05-18. Retrieved 2015-01-31.