ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the mutual post-war economic and political-security encounters and initiatives between the European Union and Japan since 1945 until 2010. It traces the origins of their present dialogue, from infrequent interaction during the early post-war years until the start of increased mutual interest and initiatives during the 1970s and up to the 1991 Hague Declaration. It then assesses and evaluates their joint activities and initiatives from the signature of their 2001 Action Plan. In so doing, it charts the pathway to the doorstep of negotiations from 2011, for the Economic Partnership Agreement and the Strategic Partnership Agreement. At its core, this chapter aims to demonstrate the ways in which the imprinting of particular experiences and documents has provided an historical point of origin for EU–Japan relations, and established a frame of reference upon which their structures and norms for mutual cooperation continue to draw.
