Japan–Poland relations

Early history

The first non-clergymen Poles to arrive in Japan were the famous adventurer Maurycy Beniowski and his close companion Antoni Straszewski, who arrived in 1771 after a daring escape from Russian exile in Kamchatka.^[1] It was also the first Polish ship to arrive in Japan, as they sailed under the Polish flag aboard a seized Russian galiot.^[1] Beniowski's expedition was warmly received by the Japanese, an exchange of gifts took place, and sailing southward, Beniowski stopped at several Japanese islands.^[1]

19th and early 20th century

Japanese novelist Tokai Sanshi wrote about the Partitions of Poland and the Polish independence movement.^[2] The Japanese poem Porando kaiko by Ochiai Naobumi about Fukushima Yasumasa travelling in 1890s mentions the Polish struggle for freedom.^[3]^[4]^[5] Fukushima established contacts with members of the Polish resistance movement and exiles to Siberia in order to obtain detailed information about the common enemy of the Poles and the Japanese—Russia.^[2]

Polish travelers Karol Lanckoroński and Paweł Sapieha, as well as ethnographers Bronisław Piłsudski and Wacław Sieroszewski, among others, wrote about Japan.^[2] Translations of Japanese literature, works on Japanese history and culture were published in partitioned Poland.^[2] Japanese culture and art were popularized among Poles by Feliks Jasieński, an enthusiast and collector of Japanese art.^[2]

Until World War I, Japanese Taiwan imported many Polish goods, i.e. metal products, leather products, haberdashery and soap from Warsaw, cotton products from Łódź, etc.^[6]

Interbellum

Japan and Poland established diplomatic relations on March 22, 1919, months after Poland regained its independence in November 1918.^[7] In the 1920s, a trade treaty was signed Japanese-Polish friendship societies were formed in both countries, and literature was translated and publications were issued on topics related to the cultures of both countries.^[2] As a token of Poland's friendship with Japan, over 50 Japanese officers were awarded the Virtuti Militari, Poland's highest military decoration, for their achievements during the Russo-Japanese War.^[2]

During Bolshevik rule in Russia, the Japanese government undertook a rescue operation to help Polish children deported to Siberia. Japanese ships transported Polish children to Tokyo, where the Japanese Red Cross gave them protection and then helped them return to Poland. The Japanese government moved swiftly in response to the call for help, asking the Japanese Red Cross Society to undertake coordination of the project. Japanese Army soldiers had been deployed in Siberia after the Russian Revolution and were there to help. In the end, a total of 765 Polish orphans scattered throughout many Siberian regions were rescued during the period from 1920 to 1922. The orphans were transported by military ships from Vladivostok to the port of the city of Tsuruga in Japan's Fukui Prefecture. They were then cared for in childcare institutions in Tokyo and Osaka.

The most sizeable Polish community of early 20th-century Japan (including the interbellum) lived in the Karafuto Prefecture, which further grew since 1925, as many Poles fled Soviet Russian persecution in northern Sakhalin.^[8]^[9]^[10] Following the Siberian intervention, Japan supported and subsidized Polish institutions in northern Sakhalin in the early 1920s.^[8] Poles in Karafuto engaged in unrestricted social, cultural and economic activities, and a Polish library was established in Toyohara.^[11] In 1924, Karafuto was visited by Polish ambassador to Japan Stanisław Patek, and many local Poles were granted Polish citizenship and passports.^[9] In 1930, two Catholic churches were built in Toyohara and Odomari, co-funded by Poles from Poland and Karafuto.^[12] Only a handful of Poles lived in other parts of Japan.^[13] Also, very few Japanese lived in Poland in the interbellum, including ten in Warsaw and three in Lwów, according to the 1921 Polish census.^[14]^[15]

A statue of Polish anthropologist Bronisław Piłsudski stands in Japan, who was a researcher of the local culture in Japan and married an Ainu woman who was a citizen of Imperial Japan.

In 1930, Polish monks Maksymilian Kolbe and Zeno Żebrowski began their mission in Japan, and the latter remained in Japan until his death in 1982, bringing aid to orphans, the elderly, the poor and the disabled.^[2]

World War II

During World War II, Japan signed the Tripartite Pact, thereby recognizing Germany's leadership in Europe. This simultaneously meant the Japanese government's recognition of German gains in Polish territory and the nonexistence of the Polish state. In 1941, the Polish government-in-exile declared war on the Japanese Empire as an expression of solidarity with the Allies. The Polish government did not support the aggressive policies of Hideki Tojo and his cabinet. Poles living in China supported the Chinese civilians and didn't support Japanese aggression.

Chiune Sugihara, Japanese vice-consul in Kaunas, played a key role in the operation and also closely co-operated with Polish intelligence.^[16]

Imperial government in Tokyo. Therefore, Chiune Sugihara had to prove to the authorities that the refugees would be traveling through Japan only as a transit country to the United States and not be staying permanently, which eventually led to him gaining full legal approval and assistance from the Government of Japan.^{[citation needed]} Tadeusz Romer, ambassador of Poland in Japan, helped the Polish-Jewish refugees after they arrived to Japan.^[17]

Modern relations

In 1957, it signed an agreement on the normalization of relations, which ended state of war — and this had legal force in international relations.

In 1994, the Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology in Warsaw was established. In 2011, the Polish Institute in Tokyo was founded.^[18]

In 1995, there came a time when Poland had the chance to give back to Japan for the rescue of Polish orphans from Siberia in the early 1920s. Poland was kind enough to invite Japanese children stricken with great loss from the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake. The children, many from Kobe and nearby areas of western Japan, went to Poland and stayed from 1995 to 1996, while the chaos and loss caused by the earthquake was sorted out. Poland repeated this kindness after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. On November 20, 2018, a school in the suburbs of Warsaw was named after the Japanese Army operations that rescued Polish orphans: “Siberia Orphans Commemoration Elementary School.”

The two states celebrated 90 years of relationship in 2009 and the 100th anniversary in 2019.^[19]^[7] Trade, business, and tourism between both countries continues to thrive. LOT Polish Airlines provides daily non-stop flights between Tokyo and Warsaw. Both countries are full members of the OECD, but modern relations are limited to mostly trade and cultural activities, although both countries see each other as vital partners in global commerce. In 2017, Japan became the second largest foreign investor in Poland in terms of total investment value, only behind the United States.^[20]

For short stays, Japanese nationals do not require visas to enter Poland, and Polish nationals do not require visas to enter Japan.^[21]^[22]

Japan–Poland relations

History

Early history

19th and early 20th century

Interbellum

World War II

Modern relations

Culture

Embassies and consulates

See also

References

External links

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