Bahrain–Japan relations
# Bahrain–Japan relations

Historic and current bilateral relationship exist between Bahrain and Japan. Diplomatic relations were first established in 1972, and since then they have had increasing economic, cultural, and military cooperation, with Japan becoming one of the major trading partners of Bahrain. Several high-level official visits have taken place, including by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to Japan in 2012, Crown Prince Salman in 2013, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Bahrain in 2013, with the governments of both countries expressing their intent to continue to increase their bilateral relations.

Japan recognized the kingdom in August 1971, and has maintained an embassy in Manama since 1988, while Bahrain has had an embassy in Tokyo since 2005. The Bahraini ambassador to Japan is Khalil Bin Ebrahim Hassan, who has held his post since 2005, while the Japanese ambassador to Bahrain has been Kiyoshi Asako since 2014. Bahrain's crown prince attended the state funeral of the assassinated Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in September 2022.

## Trade

The two countries have a history of successful economic cooperation, with Japan being one of the Gulf kingdom's major trading partners. Trade between them began in 1934, when the first shipment of Bahraini oil arrived in Yokohama, Japan. As of 2015, Bahraini exports to Japan are worth 39.1 billion Japanese yen while Bahraini imports from Japan are worth 107.3 billion Japanese yen. Japan has also spent about US$440,000 on grand aid in the country and US$17.37 million on technical cooperation with Bahrain. Thirteen trade agreements regarding healthcare and pharmaceuticals, education and training, oil and gas, and financial services were signed during Crown Prince Salman's official visit to Japan in March 2013.

Japan is Bahrain's fourth largest import partner.

## Military cooperation

Bahrain and Japan are Major non-NATO allies of the United States. Especially, Bahrain hosts the headquarters of U.S. 5th Fleet and Japan hosts the headquarters of U.S. 7th Fleet.

Many visits by top Japanese Self-Defense Forces officers and defense ministry officials have been made to Bahrain, while some Bahrain Defense Force officials have made visits to Japan.

## High level visits

The following Bahraini Ministers and leaders have made visits to Japan.

| Date | Participant(s) |
| - | - |
| 1990.11 | Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa for attending for the enthronement ceremony of His Majesty, Emperor Akihito |
| 1994. 9 | Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa for attending to the conference of ITU in Kyoto |
| 1994.11 | Yousif Ahmed Al Shirawi, Minister of Development and Industry |
| 2001.2 | Sheikh Muhammad ibn Mubarak ibn Hamad Al Khalifah, Minister of Foreign Affairs |
| 2007.11 | Mr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Chief of Public Security, Ministry of Interior |
| 2008.2 | Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Minister of Foreign Affairs |
| 2008.3 | Dr. Jasim Husain, Member of the Council of Representatives |
| 2008.6 | Mr. Khalifa Al Dhahrani, Chairman of the Council of Representatives |
| 2008.10 | Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Chairman of Economic Development Board Sheikh Hussam bin Isa Al Khalifa, Advisor, Prime Minister's Court |
| 2011.2 | Sheikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, Minister of Interior |
| 2012.4 | His Majesty, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa |
| 2012.10 | Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Minister of Finance |
| 2013.3 | Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander |
| 2013.9 | Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Chairman of Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, President Bahrain Olympic Committee and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Royal Charity Organization |
| 2014.2 | Salah Ali Mohamed Abdulrahman, Minister of Human Rights Affairs |
| 2015.3 | Sadiq bin Abdulkarim Al-Shehabi, Minister of Health |

The following Japanese Ministers and leaders have made official visits to the Kingdom of Bahrain.

| Date | Participant(s) |
| - | - |
| 1991. 7 | Mr. Muneo Suzuki, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs |
| 1994.11 | Their Imperial Highness Crown Prince Naruhito and Princess Masako |
| 2001. 3 | Mr. Seishiro Eto, Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs |
| 2001.8 | Ms. Kaori Maruya, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs |
| 2002.9 | Mr. Kenshiro Matsunami, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs |
| 2005.6 | Mr. Katsuyuki Kawai, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs |
| 2006.7 | Mr. Taro Kimura, Senior Vice-Minister for Defense |
| 2006.10 | Mr. Takeshi Iwaya, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs |
| 2006.12 | Ms. Yuriko Koike, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister |
| 2007.7 | Mr. Kazunori Tanaka, Parliamentary Secretary for Defense Vice Admiral Eiji Yoshikawa, Chief of Staff, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force |
| 2007.9 | Mr. Itsunori Onodera, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs |
| 2007.10 | Mr. Minoru Terada, Parliamentary Secretary for Defense |
| 2007.12 | Ms. Yuriko Koike, Former Minister of Defense |
| 2008.4 | Mr. Tsutomu Takebe, Chairperson of Japan-Bahrain Parliamentary Friendship League |
| 2008.7 | Mr. Hiroshi Okuda, Special Envoy of the Prime Minister Mr.Ryotaro Tanose, Member of the House of Representatives |
| 2008.12 | Mr. Yoshimasa Hayashi, Former Minister of Defense Mr. Ryota Takeda, Parliamentary Secretary for Defense |
| 2009.3 | Mr. Yasutoshi Nishimura, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs |
| 2009.5 | Mr. Yasuo Fukuda, Special Envoy of the Prime Minister |
| 2009.6 | Vice Admiral, Toru Izumi, Commander in chief, Self Defense Fleet |
| 2009.12 | General Ryoichi Oriki, Commander in chief, Joint Staff Hidehisa Otsuji, Former Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Kazuya Shinba, Senior Vice-Minister for Defense |
| 2010.12 | Hajime Hirota, Parliamentary Secretary for Defense |
| 2012.5 | Mr. Mitsu Shimojo, Parliamentary Secretary for Defense |
| 2012.6 | Vice Admiral Katsutoshi Kawano, Commander in chief, SDF |
| 2013.5 | Mr. Yasuo Fukuda, Former Prime Minister |
| 2013.8 | Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister |
| 2014.1 | Mr. Toru Doi, Vice-Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism |
| 2015.5 | Mr. Takashi Uto, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr. Takahiro Ishikawa, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Defense Mr. Daishiro Yamagiwa, Senior Vice Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry |
| 2016.6 | Vice Admiral Yasuhiro Shigeoka, Commander in chief, SDF |
