Early contacts

Some Canadian-Japanese contacts predate this mutual establishment of permanent legations. The first known Japanese immigrant to Canada, Manzo Nagano, landed in New Westminster, British Columbia in 1877.^[4]

A number of Canadian missionaries working in Japan during the Meiji period played significant roles in both the development of local Japanese Christian churches as well as the modernization of Japan's educational system. Significant among this number were the Rev. Alexander Croft Shaw, a close associate of Yukichi Fukuzawa of Keio University, G.G. Cochran who helped found Doshisha University and, Davidson McDonald who helped to establish Aoyama Gakuin University.^[2]

In 1887, the sailing route for steamships between Yokohama and Vancouver was opened,^[4] with vessels in the ocean service of the Canadian Pacific Railway making regular voyages.^[5] One of these Canadian ships, the RMS Empress of Australia and her captain, Samuel Robinson, RNR gained international acclaim because of rescue efforts undertaken after the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake.^[6]

From 1904 to 1905, Herbert Cyril Thacker of the Royal Canadian Field Artillery served in the field as a military attaché with the Japanese Army during the Russo-Japanese War.^[7] He was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Third Class by the Japanese government for his services during the Russo-Japanese War.^[8] He also received the Japanese War medal for service during that campaign.^[7]

Japan was an ally of the British Empire during the First World War.

Opening of diplomatic missions

The legation Canada opened in Tokyo in 1929 was its third outside the Commonwealth following Washington and Paris. That fact highlights the exceptional importance Canada placed on Japan as a hub for its diplomatic activities throughout Asia.^[2] However, the reason for the legation's creation also had much to do with anti-Asian feeling in the Canadian province of British Columbia during the first half of the 20th century. Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King was anxious to limit Japanese migration to Canada, saying "our only effective way to deal with the Japanese question is to have our own Minister in Japan to visa passports."^[9] As a context, it is worth noting that Japan's consulate in Vancouver was established in 1889, 40 years before its embassy was opened in Ottawa in 1929.^[10]

The first Japanese Minister in Canada was Prince Iemasa Tokugawa, serving from 1929 to 1934. The first Canadian Minister in Japan was Sir Herbert Marler, serving from 1929 to 1936.^[11]

World War II

An internment camp for Japanese-Canadians in British Columbia.

Diplomatic ties were severed in 1941 with the start of the Pacific War. During the war, Canada interned Japanese-Canadians after passage of the War Measures Act for "national security" purposes. Japanese-Canadians had many of their rights revoked, including the right to work in any occupation they choose as well as their right to own property.

In December 1941, eight hours after the beginning of the Pacific War, the Commonwealth forces fighting Japanese forces, during the Battle of Hong Kong included the Canadian C Force, a brigade-level formation. Following their defeat at Hong Kong a few weeks later, hundreds of Canadians became prisoners of war (POW).

In Alaska, some of the Aleutian Islands were occupied by Japanese forces. On 15 August 1943, 29,000 US and 5,000 Canadian troops landed on Kiska island. They found the island abandoned, as Japanese forces had left two weeks earlier. Two fighter squadrons of the Royal Canadian Air Force also saw active service over the Aleutians, and claimed one aerial victory over a Japanese aircraft. Three Canadian armed merchant cruisers and two corvettes also served in the Aleutian campaign but did not encounter enemy forces.

Four Royal Canadian Navy vessels were part of the British Pacific Fleet (BPF) in 1944–45. A number of Canadians also served on British vessels, including aviators attached to Fleet Air Arm. In particular, the cruiser HMCS Uganda took part in a carrier raid on the major Japanese base at Truk. Afterwards the BPF took part in air raids on the Japanese Home Islands.

Post-War

Col. Lawrence Moore Cosgrave, signs the Japanese Instrument of Surrender as Canada's representative on the USS Missouri.

Canadian representatives returned to Tokyo in 1946 in the wake of Japan's unconditional surrender to allied forces after the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan also opened a diplomatic office in Ottawa in 1951 for the preparation of the future resumption of diplomatic relations. Full restoration of Japanese-Canadian relations accompanied the San Francisco Peace Treaty in 1952.^[11]

The Canadian Legation in Tokyo was upgraded to an embassy and Robert Mayhew was appointed as the first Canadian Ambassador to Japan after World War II. Japan also established an embassy in Ottawa and Sadao Iguchi became the first Japanese Ambassador to Canada.^[11]

Canada acted in various ways to assist Japan's re-entry into the international community. It was at Canada's initiative that Japan was admitted membership to the Colombo Plan conference that convened in Ottawa in 1954, the same year the bilateral Agreement Concerning Commerce was sealed. Canada supported Japan's inclusion in General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT); and when Japan entered GATT, Canada was one of only a small handful of nations who accorded it most-favored-nation status.^[2]

Japan was nominated by, and had the backing of Canada when it joined the United Nations in 1956. Similarly, Canada demonstrated strong support for Japan's admission to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1963.^[2]

Maturing process

The most noteworthy event which symbolized the restoration of the Canadian-Japanese relationship was the visit of Prince Akihito (later Emperor from 1989 to 2019) to Canada in 1953. The following year, Canadian Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida exchanged visits.^[11]

Since the 1950s, Japan and Canada have concluded a number of bilateral agreements concerning fishery, trade, aviation, postal service, atomic energy, and culture. There have been many exchange visits by both Japanese and Canadian Prime Ministers as well. After the 1960s, Prime Ministers Nobusuke Kishi, Hayato Ikeda, Kakuei Tanaka, Masayoshi Ohira, Zenko Suzuki, Yasuhiro Nakasone, Noboru Takeshita, Toshiki Kaifu, Tomiichi Murayama, Ryutaro Hashimoto, Keizo Obuchi, Yoshiro Mori and Junichiro Koizumi visited Canada. Canadian Prime Ministers John Diefenbaker, Pierre Trudeau, Joe Clark, Brian Mulroney, Kim Campbell, Jean Chrétien, and Paul Martin visited Japan.^[11]

During this period, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney offered an apology in the House of Commons for the unjust treatment of Japanese-Canadians during World War II. As a response to Japanese-Canadian internment, Prime Minister Mulroney and the National Association of Japanese Canadians' President Art Miki signed the Redress Agreement to settle past historical issues in 1988.^[11]

In 2008, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was received at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, marking the 80th anniversary of the start of formal diplomatic relations between Canada and Japan. In July 2009 Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko made their first state visit to Canada.^[12]

In March 2011, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper writes and sends condolences book to millions of Japanese people and Prime Minister Naoto Kan, following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, in Chubu, Kanto and Tohoku region including Tokyo was affected and blackout.

On March 26, 2012, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper visited the coastal region of Sendai, Japan.

• 
  Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan visiting the Richmond Olympic Oval (Richmond, BC)
  on July 10, 2009.
• 
  Prime Minister Stephen Harper signing a book of condolence for the victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on March 23, 2011.
• 
  Prime Ministers Shinzō Abe and Justin Trudeau at the 44th G7 summit in La Malbaie, Quebec on June 8, 2018