ABSTRACT
The Japanese image of Germany has gone through significant changes over the past 150 years. Its history can be divided into five periods. In the initial period (1860s–1918), Germany was primarily regarded as a superb model of modernization. In the second period (1918–1945), the Japanese wanted to see Germany as a peer rather than as a teacher. The end of World War II ushered in the third period (1945–1980s), during which relations between the two countries weakened. Around the 1980s a remarkable shift occurred, characterizing the fourth period (1980s–2000s): Japanese praised Germany as the heartland of ecology and a high quality of life. This was succeeded by a sober outlook in the fifth period at the beginning of the new millennium (2000s–). The Japanese ceased to think as highly of Germany. Instead, Germany had finally become a normal country in their eyes.
