Japan's relations with Israel

On 4 April 1991, when the Japanese Prime Minister Kaifu visited Los Angeles to meet President Bush in an attempt to patch up the unsteady relations between the two countries and to save his nation’s reputation in the difficult circumstances of the Gulf Crisis, he made quite an inconspicuous but somewhat historic remark on his country’s attitude toward Israel. ‘Historic’ in the sense that it implied for the first time the possibility of improving bilateral relations regardless of the Arab-Israel conflict. ¹ And there has been clear confirmation of the significance of the idea since Kaifu’s statement, epitomised by the decision of Japan’s largest automobile manufacturer, the Toyota Motor Co., by the middle of the same month, to cancel their trade embargo with Israel. ² Although Toyota’s decision to begin exports to Israel was ostensibly claimed as purely a marketing move, it is hard to deny the circumstances of mounting political forces from outside on the diplomatic front which pressed Japan to distance itself from the Arab boycott.