South African-Japanese Relations

Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1937, when the Japanese embassy in Pretoria was opened ^[1] . The South African Union (then part of the British Empire ) became the third African state (after Egypt and Ethiopia ) with which Tokyo established diplomatic relations. In the pre-war period, South Africa supplied wool to Japan. In December 1941, after Tokyo entered World War II, the South African Union severed diplomatic relations with Japan and declared war on it. Nevertheless, both countries really needed each other, especially economic cooperation. Already in 1952, the Japanese consulate opened in Pretoria (while diplomatic relations were restored only in 1961) ^[2] . In 1962, the first consulate of South Africa opened in Japan, and in 1964, the second Japanese consulate (in Cape Town ) opened in South Africa ^[3] . Bilateral trade in the late 1950s and 1960s grew very rapidly. From 1957 to 1967, Japanese exports to South Africa increased from $ 50 million to $ 157 million, while imports to Japan from South Africa increased from $ 34 million to $ 267 million ^[4] .

Even the apartheid policies pursued by the South African authorities could not spoil close bilateral relations, since the Japanese (unlike the Chinese ) received the status of “honorary whites” in South Africa. In turn, Japan tried not to raise the issue of apartheid. In 1962, the Japanese delegation voted against the adoption of UN General Assembly resolution No. 1761 on the condemnation of the apartheid regime, and in 1973, Japan abstained from voting on resolution No. 3068, which recognized apartheid as a crime against humanity ^[5] . In 1990, N. Mandela visited Japan, but despite a warm welcome, his request for financial assistance was rejected ^[6] . Tokyo’s cautious policies have borne fruit - in the late 1980s, Japan became the main trading partner of South Africa, and South Africa - the main trading partner of Japan in Africa ^[7] .

After the fall of apartheid, bilateral relations remain friendly. In 1993, the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) was established, which is held once every 5 years, organized by the Government of Japan, the United Nations Development Program and the Office of the United Nations Special Adviser on Africa (since 2013 also the World Bank and the African Union ), in 1994, the Japanese authorities allocated funds for free elections in South Africa ^[8] . In 2002, South African Prime Minister D. Koizumi visited South Africa ^[9] . South African President T. Mbeki visited Japan 4 times - in 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2008 ^[10] .

South Africa remains the most important trading partner of Japan, as well as the main recipient of Japanese investment. In 2014, exports from South Africa to Japan - $ 5724 million (34% of Japanese exports from Africa), Japanese imports to South Africa - $ 3259 million (31% of Japanese imports to Africa) ^[11] .

South Africa is the main recipient of Japanese investment in the African continent. At the end of 2014, accumulated Japanese direct investment in Africa amounted to $ 10,467 million, of which $ 7,702 million accounted for South Africa ^[12] (74%).