Japan-Greece Relations
Japan-Greece Relations (Overview)
Diplomatic Relations
Established in June 1899 with the signing of the Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation.
Bilateral agreements
- Agreement for abolishing visa (1956)
- Agreement on Air Services (1973)
- Cultural Agreement (1981)
- Tax Convention (2024)
Number of Residents
- Number of Japanese nationals residing in Greece: 627 (October 2024)
- Number of Greek nationals residing in Japan: 301 (June 2024)
VIP Visits
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 2000 | Speaker of the House of Representatives WATANUKI Tamisuke |
| 2001 | Prime Minister MORI Yoshiro |
| 2002 | President of the House of Councillors KURATA Hiroyuki |
| 2003 | Prime Minister KOIZUMI Junichiro |
| 2004 | Minister of Education, Culture, Sports and Science KAWAMURA Takeo HIH The Prince&Princess Hitachi |
| 2006 | Speaker of House of the Representatives KONO Yohei Parliamentary Vice-Ministers for Foreign Affairs YAMANAKA Akiko Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Science KOSAKA Kenji |
| 2012 | State Minister for Foreign Affairs YAMANE Ryuji |
| 2014 | Vice-Speaker of the House of Representatives AKAMATSU Hirotaka |
| 2017 | State Minister for Foreign Affairs KISHI Nobuo |
| 2017 | President of the House of Councillors DATE Chuichi |
| 2018 | State Minister for Foreign Affairs NAKANE Kazuyuki |
| 2019 | Special Advisor to Prime Minister SONOURA Kentaro |
| 2019 | State Minister of Cabinet Office TANAKA Ryosei |
| 2024 | Her Imperial Highness Princess Kako |
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 2002 | Prime Minister Kostas Simitis (Official guest) |
| 2004 | Minister of Agricultural Development and Provisions Evangelos Basiakos |
| 2005 | Minister of Economy and Finance Georgios Alogoskoufis President of the Hellenic Parliament Anna Benaki Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis (Official working visit guest) |
| 2007 | Minister of Transport and Communication Michalis Liapis |
| 2013 | Minister of Tourism Olga Kefalogianni |
| 2014 | Secretary General of Ministry of Foreign Affairs Panagiotis Michalos Minister of Education and Religious Affairs Andreas Loverdos |
| 2019 | Minister of Foreign Affairs George Katrougalos Deputy Prime Minister Panagiotis Pikrammenos |
| 2020 | Deputy Minister for Economic Diplomacy and Openness of Foreign Affairs Konstantinos Fragkogiannis |
| 2021 | Deputy Minister for Culture and Sport, Lefteris Avgenakis |
| 2022 | Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis |
| 2023 | Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis Deputy Minister for Economic Diplomacy and Openness of Foreign Affairs Konstantinos Fragkogiannis Minister of Digital Governance Kyriakos Pierrakakis |
| 2024 | Minister of Tourism Olga Kefalogianni |
Economic Relations
Japan’s Trade with Greece (2023)
- Exports to Greece: 57.4 billion yen
- Imports from Greece: 107 billion yen
List of Main items (2023)
- Japan to Greece: machinery, transport equipment, etc.
- Greece to Japan: tobacco, pharmaceutical products, aluminum, etc.
(Source: Trade Statistics of the Ministry of Finance of Japan)
Cultural Exchanges
Japan and Greece have traditionally been on friendly terms - except for the temporary interruption during the Second World War- ever since the "Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation" was concluded in June 1899.
The strong foundations of the Greek-Japanese cultural relations were laid in 1981, with the conclusion of the "Cultural Agreement between Japan and Greece". Both countries are proud of their long history, tradition and rich cultural heritage.
On the occasion of the Celebration of 100 years of Greek-Japanese friendly relations, many cultural events were organized in Greece by the Centennial Committee, in cooperation with the Greek Government, numerous organizations and volunteers, that helped the Greek people better understand a part of the Japanese civilization.
In March, 2002, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Greek Prime MinisterK. Simitis, during his official visit to Japan, announced the Japan-Greece Joint Action Plan, which proposed holding “Greek Months” in Japan and “Japanese Months” in Greece in the run up to the year of the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004. During that year, many Japanese traditional and modern cultural events were organized in Athens.
In 2009, on the occasion of the Celebration of 110 years of Greek-Japanese friendly relations, various events such as "Japan Week" with Japanese cultural activities were held.
In view of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2020, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan and the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Hellenic Republic signed the Memorandum of Cooperation in the field of sports in July 2017. Inasawa City of Aichi Prefecture and Misato City of Saitama Prefecture have been registered as Host Towns for Greece.
In 2023, during the Japan-Greece summit held between Prime Minister Kishida and Prime Minister Mitsotakis, Japan and Greece agreed to designate 2024, the 125th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, as the "Japan-Greece Year of Culture and Tourism." Following this agreement, numerous cultural exchange initiatives were implemented in both countries throughout 2024.
While there are no institutions dedicated to Japanese studies within higher education institutions in Greece, there are several private organizations offering Japanese language education. Additionally, the Government of Japan annually accepts a few MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) scholarship students.
There are 8 sister city relationships and 1 sister street relationship between Japan and Greece.