France–Japan relations

Franco-Japanese relations

France

Japan

The history of relations between France and Japan goes back to the early 17th century, when a Japanese samurai and ambassador on his way to Rome landed for a few days in Saint-Tropez, creating a sensation. France and Japan have enjoyed a very robust and progressive relationship spanning centuries through various contacts in each other's countries by senior representatives, strategic efforts, and cultural exchanges.

After nearly two centuries of seclusion by "Sakoku" in Japan, the two countries became very important partners from the second half of the 19th century in the military, economic, legal and artistic fields. The Bakufu modernized its army through the assistance of French military missions (Jules Brunet), and Japan later relied on France for several aspects of its modernization, particularly the development of a shipbuilding industry during the early years of the Imperial Japanese Navy (Emile Bertin), and the development of a Legal code.

France derived part of its modern artistic inspiration from Japanese art, essentially through Japonism and its influence on Impressionism, and almost completely relied on Japan for its prosperous silk industry.

Chronology of Franco-Japanese relations

17th-18th century

17th-century account of Hasekura's visit to France.

19th century

Leonce Verny directed the construction of Japan's first modern arsenal at Yokosuka from 1865.
The first French military mission to Japan in 1867. Jules Brunet in front, second from right.
The first automobile in Japan, a French Panhard-Levassor, in 1898.

20th century

Franco-Japanese relations today

French embassy in Tokyo, Japan.
Japanese embassy in Paris, France.

Recently France has been very involved in trade and cultural exchange initiatives with Japan. Some people see this as being a result of former French president Jacques Chirac being a Japanophile. Chirac has visited Japan over 40 times, probably more than any other world leader outside Japan, and is an expert on the country. France has started the export promotion campaign Le Japon, c'est possible and the international liaison personnel exchange program JET. Together they built the Maison de la Culture du Japon à Paris.

France and Japan have also worked together to improve dire health situations from HIV and underdevelopment in Djibouti, Madagascar, Uganda, and other countries.

Japan and France are also known to share ideas with each other in the realms of art and cooking. Japan has been heavily influenced by French cuisine within the past few decades, as seen on the television show Iron Chef. Anime and manga are popular in France: manga represents 1,400 of the 4,300 annual book publications and 40% of the comics sales (95 Million € in 2008). The movie Interstella 5555 was a collaborative motion picture with Japanese anime writer, Leiji Matsumoto, and the French house band, Daft Punk. French historical figures and settings from medieval, Renaissance, Napoleonic, and World War eras have served as models for certain popular stories in Japanese entertainment. The purity of Japanese painting and illustration, and likewise the modernity and elegance of French visual arts has resulted in hybrid styles in those creative fields.

The two countries have been collaborating closely in the area of nuclear energy generation. In September 2013, two years after the nuclear disaster at Fukushima, Japan has officially accepted help from France for the decommission and dismantle of Fukushima's reactors.[7] Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, a Japanese corporation, and France's Areva began cooperating on constructing a nuclear reactor in Turkey in 2013.[8]

In June 2005, France and Japan announced a collaboration to build the next generation supersonic commercial aircraft, a successor to the Concorde. Commercial service is not expected until 2050.[9][10]

Laurent Fabius, French Foreign Minister, met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as a courtesy call during a visit to Japan from 5 October to 6 October 2014.[11] The meeting included Abe expressing his condolences for the ISIL beheading of French backpacker Hervé Gourdel, and both agreed on future meetings on defense cooperation and tackling global warming.[12]

French in Japan

Japanese in France

See also

Notes

  1. Thierry Mormane : "La prise de possession de l'île d'Urup par la flotte anglo-française en 1855", Revue Cipango, "Cahiers d'études japonaises", No 11 hiver 2004 pp. 209-236.
  2. Source and
  3. Text in League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. 68, pp. 236-239.
  4. Nanba Chizuru, « Kokuritsukôbunshokan-shozô no "Saigon-bansai" kankeishiryô ni tsuite » (On the documents related to the Saigon trials kept at the National Archives of Japan, Kitanomaru, 41, December 2008, pp.79-81 難波ちづる, 国立公文書館所蔵の「サイゴン裁判」関係資料について, 北の丸:第41号 (平成20年12月)
  5. "A burst of fireworks for 'Japan in France'". The Deseret News. 12 May 1997. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  6. "Statue illumination kicks off 'Year of France' event". The Japan Times. 28 April 1998. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  7. http://enformable.com/2013/09/japan-accept-help-france-fukushima-daiichi/
  8. "Japan, France to enhance nuclear, defense relations". Hurriyet Daily News. The Associated Press. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  9. Zaun, Todd (June 16, 2005), France and Japan hope Concorde's successor is in the wings, N.Y. Times, retrieved 2014-08-01
  10. EADS reveals hypersonic successor to Concorde, France 24, 2011-06-20, retrieved 2014-08-01
  11. "Courtesy Call on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe by H.E. Mr. Laurent Fabius, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, France". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. 5 October 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  12. "Japan-France Foreign Ministers' Meeting". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. 5 October 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2014.

References

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