Japan–Portugal relations

Japan–Portugal relations are the current and historical diplomatic, cultural and trade relations between Japan and Portugal. The history of relations between the two nations goes back to the mid 16th century, when Portuguese sailors first arrived in Japan in 1543, and diplomatic relations officially restarted in the 19th century with the Treaty of Peace, Amity and Commerce.

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to meet the Japanese, in the 16th century. The firearms they introduced subsequently had a great impact on the unification of Japan, and the following era of trade spurred economic development. The Portuguese legacy in Japan includes, among other things: the Nanban art and the gastronomic heritage (for example tempura or various sweet dishes such as konpeitō or the castella cakes from Nagasaki), but also the linguistic heritage, which is reflected in several dozen Portuguese loanwords in the Japanese language in geography, religion and everyday culture, for example bread. The Portuguese heritage in Japan is still present in the consciousness of Japanese society today.

Both nations are members of the World Trade Organization. Since 2014, Japan has had Associate Observer status in the Community of Portuguese Language Countries.

In 2016, 440 Japanese citizens were registered in Portugal and 589 Portuguese were registered in Japan.

Trade
The first affiliation between Portugal and Japan started in 1543, when Portuguese explorers landed in the southern archipelago of Japan, becoming the first Europeans to reach Japan. As soon as the first Portuguese arrived in 1543, Portuguese traders and merchants began looking for trading opportunities in Japan. This period of time is often entitled Nanban trade, where both Europeans (Portuguese) and Asians (Japanese) would engage in mercantilism and cultural exchange. The Portuguese at this time would found the port of Nagasaki, through the initiative of the Jesuit Gaspar Vilela and the Daimyo lord Ōmura Sumitada, in 1571, where the annual trade ships arrived from then on.

The expansion for commerce extended Portuguese influence in Japan, particularly in Kyushu, where the port became a strategic hot spot after the Portuguese assistance to Daimyo Sumitada on repelling an attack on the harbor by the Ryūzōji clan in 1578.

The cargo of the first Portuguese ships (called kurofune, "black ships", by the Japanese) upon docking in Japan were basically cargo coming from China (silk, porcelain, etc.). The Japanese craved these goods, which were prohibited from the contacts with the Chinese by the Emperor as punishment for the attacks of the Wokou piracy. Thus, the Portuguese acted as intermediaries in Asian trade. Many products and cultural aspects flowed into Japan from Portugal, while silver and other goods from Japan flowed into Portugal.

In 1592 the Portuguese trade with Japan started being increasingly challenged by Chinese smugglers on their reeds, in addition to Spanish vessels coming to Manila in 1600, the Dutch in 1609, and English in 1613.

One of the many things that the Japanese were interested in were Portuguese guns. The first three Europeans to arrive in Japan in 1543 were Portuguese traders António Mota, Francisco Zeimoto and António Peixoto (also presumably Fernão Mendes Pinto). They arrived at the southern tip of Tanegashima, where they would introduce firearms to the local population. These muskets would later receive the name after its location.

Because Japan was in the midst of a civil war, called the Sengoku period, the Japanese bought many Portuguese artillery, such as guns (arquebus) and cannons. Oda Nobunaga, a famous daimyo who nearly unified all of Japan, made extensive use of guns playing a key role in the Battle of Nagashino. Within a year, Japanese smiths were able to reproduce the mechanism and began to mass-produce the Portuguese arms. Early issues due to Japanese inexperience was corrected with the help of Portuguese blacksmiths. The Japanese soon worked on various techniques to improve the effectiveness of their guns and even developed larger caliber barrels and ammunition to increase lethality. And just 50 years later, his armies were equipped with a large number of such weapons, changing the way war was fought on the islands. The weapons were extremely important in the unification of Japan under Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu, as well as in the invasions of Korea in 1592 and 1597. Europeans brought by trade not only weapons, but also clocks, soap, tobacco, and other unknown products in Feudal Japan.

Jesuits in Japan
A Portuguese trader set off from Malacca for Japan in 1547 and wrote the first detailed report about Japan for Francisco Xavier. Motivated by the report, Xavier traveled through Japan between 15 August 1549 and 15 November 1551, starting in Kagoshima. He laid the foundation for the Jesuits' missionary activity and thus introduced Christianity to Japan. Other Portuguese Jesuits like Francisco Cabral and Gaspar Coelho visited Japan in 1570 and continued to carry out Christian missionary activities in Kyushu, later leading several lords of the region to Christianize. Tenshō envoys were also sent to Europe in the late sixteenth century. The Jesuits initially missionized exclusively, then in competition with other Christian monastic orders, but also significantly promoted cultural, scientific, institutional, business and diplomatic exchange.

In addition to the religious aspect, European culture was taught there in many areas, such as music, theater and Western painting and art. They published printed matter in Latin, Portuguese and romanized and transcribed Japanese and spread knowledge in areas such as cartography, astronomy, medicine, military, and gastronomy. Portuguese Jesuits also played a role in writing several works about the Japanese language and society. Publications include the first Japanese-to-Portuguese dictionary and Japanese grammar, the latter by João Rodrigues, in the early 1600s, which took more than four years to compile and have become valuable resources for philological studies of Japanese and Portuguese today. Other important works include the books "The First European Description of Japan" and "Historia de Iapam" by Luís Fróis and "História da Igreja do Japão" (also by João Rodrigues) on the history of Japan.

In 1556, Jesuit Luís de Almeida, who disseminated surgical and other medical knowledge from Europe to Japan, founds the first hospital with European medicine in Japan, a leprosy ward and a kindergarten in Ōita.

With the decree against Christianity in Japan in 1587 and the expulsion of missionaries from 1614 onwards, the persecution of Christians in Japan began, which ended in 1639 with the expulsion of the Jesuits and the Portuguese from Japan. As early as 1625, Francisco Pacheco, head of the Jesuit mission in Japan, was executed at the gates of Nagasaki. The Portuguese missionary Cristóvão Ferreira, who arrived in Japan in 1610, contributed to the tense situation on the issue with his varied role until he was executed there around 1650. The Buddhist monks in Japan, who feared for their power, also pushed for the expulsion.

Slave trade
After the Portuguese first made contact with Japan in 1543, Japanese slaves were sold to the Portuguese and sent to various locations overseas, including Portugal itself, throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Documents mention the slave trade along with protests against the enslavement of Japanese, initially issued by King Sebastian of Portugal to the Daimyo of Japan, to stop the enslavement and transport of the Japanese. Hundreds of Japanese, especially women, were sold as slaves. Japanese slaves are believed to be the first of their nation to end up in Europe, and the Portuguese purchased Japanese to bring to Portugal for sexual purposes, as noted by the Church in 1555. King Sebastian feared that it was having a negative effect on trade between the countries and Catholic evangelization since the slave trade in Japanese was growing to larger proportions, so he commanded that it be banned in 1571.

Japanese slave women were even sold as concubines, serving on Portuguese ships and trading in Japan, mentioned by Luis Cerqueira, a Portuguese Jesuit, in a 1598 document. Japanese slaves were brought by the Portuguese to Macau, where some of them not only ended up being enslaved to the Portuguese, but as slaves to other slaves, with the Portuguese owning Malay and African slaves, who in turn owned Japanese slaves of their own.

Hideyoshi was so disgusted that his own Japanese people were being sold en masse into slavery in Kyushu, that he wrote a letter to Jesuit Vice-Provincial Gaspar Coelho on 24 July 1587 to demand the Portuguese, Siamese (Thai), and Cambodians stop purchasing Japanese slaves and return those who ended up as far as India. Hideyoshi blamed the Portuguese and Jesuits for this slave trade and banned Christian evangelization as a result. Historians have noted, however, that anti-Portuguese propaganda was actively promoted by the Japanese, particularly with regards to the Portuguese purchases of Japanese women for sexual purposes.

Some Korean slaves were bought by the Portuguese and brought back to Portugal from Japan, where they had been among the tens of thousands of Korean prisoners of war transported to Japan during the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–98). Historians pointed out that at the same time Hideyoshi expressed his indignation and outrage at the Portuguese trade in Japanese slaves, he himself was engaging in a mass slave trade of Korean prisoners of war in Japan. Japanese Christian daimyos were mainly responsible for selling to the Portuguese their fellow Japanese. Japanese women and Japanese men, Javanese, Chinese, and Indians were all sold as slaves in Portugal. Japanese and other Asians captured in battle were also sold by their compatriots to the Portuguese as slaves, but the Japanese would also sell family members they could not afford to sustain because of the civil-war. According to Prof. Charles Boxer, both old and modern Asian authors have "conveniently overlooked" their part in the enslavement of their countrymen.

Fillippo Sassetti saw some Chinese and Japanese slaves in Lisbon among the large slave community in 1578.

The Portuguese "highly regarded" Asian slaves like Chinese and Japanese, much more "than slaves from sub-Saharan Africa". The Portuguese attributed qualities like intelligence and industriousness to Chinese and Japanese slaves which is why they favored them more.

In 1595 a law was passed by Portugal banning the selling and buying of Chinese and Japanese slaves.

17th century
When formal trade relations were established in 1609 by requests from Englishman William Adams, the Dutch were granted extensive trading rights and set up a Dutch East India Company trading outpost at Hirado. They traded exotic Asian goods such as spices, textiles, porcelain, and silk. When the Shimabara uprising of 1637 happened, in which Christian Japanese started a rebellion against the Tokugawa shogunate, it was crushed with the help of the Dutch. As a result, all Christian nations who gave aid to the rebels were expelled, leaving the Dutch the only commercial partner from the West. Among the expelled nations was Portugal who had a trading post in Nagasaki harbor on an artificial island called Dejima. In a move of the shogunate to take the Dutch trade away from the Hirado clan, the entire Dutch trading post was moved to Dejima.

19th century
Significant official Japanese-Portuguese exchanges only took place again since the Meiji period. Following the opening of Japan to trade with the west in the 1850s, the Shogun's government became more receptive to reestablishing diplomatic relations with the Portuguese government. Acting as a representative of Portugal, the governor of Macau, Isidoro Francisco Guimarães, agreed. On 3 August 1860, a commercial and peace treaty was concluded between the two countries and their old diplomatic relations were reestablished between them.

Afterwards, a large number of Portuguese from Macau and Shanghai moved to Japan, where they worked in trading companies or authorities. From this immigrant community grew, among other things: the Portuguese schools of Kōbe and Yokohama.

Wenceslau de Moraes in particular made a great contribution to the Portuguese presence in Japan as a diplomatic and economic mediator. The naval officer lived with his Japanese wife in Kōbe from 1898 to 1913 and was initially the Portuguese consul there and in Osaka before heading the Portuguese consulate general in Kobe from 1912. Until his death in Tokushima, he wrote several important books on the subject.

20th century
In World War I, Portugal and Japan participated together in the war on the Allied side. After the war, nine countries, including Japan and Portugal, attended the Washington Naval Conference of 1922, where they both ratified the Nine-Power Treaty.

During the Second World War, both countries had a complicated relationship. Portugal was officially neutral; while it was aligned more closely with the Allies, it adhered to strict neutrality in East Asia, to protect its territories of Macau and East Timor. Initially, Japan respected the neutrality of both territories. Macau, in particular, become a haven for Allied civilian refugees. To varying, degrees, however, both Macau and East Timor later came under de facto control of Japan, until the end of the war. During this time, diplomatic relations were temporarily disrupted.

In early 1942, as Japanese forces advanced rapidly through the Dutch East Indies, Portugal declined all requests for cooperation from the Allies, who believed that East Timor would become the site of major Japanese bases. Nevertheless, Portugal did not object, when Australian and Dutch forces landed unilaterally in East Timor, to set up defensive positions. In the subsequent Timor campaign, the indigenous Timorese and other Portuguese subjects assisted the Allies and suffered reprisals from Japanese forces. The Allies withdrew in 1943 and East Timor remained under de facto Japanese occupation until late 1945, when Japanese troops in East Timor surrendered to the Portuguese governor.

Meanwhile, the Portuguese authorities in Macau were coming under increasing pressure to cooperate with the Japanese military. In August 1943, Japanese troops seized a British-registered steamer in the harbor of Macau. Soon afterwards, Japan issued an ultimatum to Portugal, demanding that the territorial government accept the installation of Japanese advisors, and threatening direct occupation. Portugal acceded to Japanese demands and Macau effectively became a Japanese protectorate. Believing that Japan had or would get access to stores of aviation fuel in Macau, US forces launched several air raids on the territory. In 1950, the US government compensated the Portuguese government with US$20M, for the damage caused in Macau by US air raids. In 1945 the Japanese finally withdrew and gave East Timor back to Portugal.

In 1952, Japan regained its sovereignty by issuing the Treaty of San Francisco, and diplomatic relations between Portugal and Japan were restored the following year in 1953. In the same year, Portugal established an embassy in Japan (Tokyo) and Japan in Portugal (Lisbon) in 1954. Since then, Portugal has undergone major changes from the dictatorship of António Salazar to democratization through the Carnation Revolution and membership in the European Economic Community and the European Union, and has lost its remaining territory in Asia with the independence of Macau and East Timor. Relations between Portugal and Japan have since remained good and friendly. In 1993, events commemorating the 450th anniversary of the arrival of the Portuguese to Tanegashima were held. In the same year, President Mário Soares visited Japan and Princess Hisako Takamado visited Portugal.

In 1998, the Lisbon World Exposition was held under the theme "The Oceans: a Heritage for the Future", with Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko making their first visit to Portugal.

21st century
In 2004, the then prince and current emperor Naruhito traveled to Portugal.

In 2010 and 2020, a number of cultural and sporting events (such as Japanese film, anime shows, judo events and calligraphy exhibitions and workshops) were held in Portugal to commemorate the 150th and 160th anniversaries of diplomatic relations and friendship between the two countries since the 19th century.

In Nagasaki, the Kunchi festival is celebrated annually and features the arrival and presence of the Portuguese in the city in the 16th century.

Economic relations
Unlike in the 16th and 17th centuries, the current relationship between the two countries has little influence on each other's political situation, and economic ties are also relatively small. In 2010, exports from Japan amounted to $479,858,000 and exports from Portugal amounted to $270,635,000, representing a significant export surplus on the Japanese side. The proportion of total exports is only 0.06%, and the proportion of exports from Portugal in Japan's imports is 0.04%. Even among the 27 EU member countries, Portugal remains Japan's 18th largest partner country in terms of export value and 19th largest in terms of import value. The share of Portugal's trade with Japan in its total exports and imports was approximately 0.5-0.6% in 2009, and while intra-EU trade accounts for approximately 74% of total exports and imports, the contribution of trade with Japan is small. Japan's exports have a high share of passenger and freight vehicles, auto parts, and electrical equipment, while Portugal's main exports include clothing and accessories, vegetables, fish, wine, and cork. Natural cork in particular has a high market share in Japan.

In February 2011, Nissan started construction of a plant to produce lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles in Aveiro, Portugal. This will be located on the site of Renault's transmission assembly plant, and production is scheduled to begin in December 2012. This is a large-scale business deal in which Nissan Europe will invest approximately 17.5 billion yen.

In 2016, with an overnight spending of 29.7 million euros, Japanese tourists accounted for a share of 0.23% of foreign tourists in Portugal.

Cultural relations
Although the economic relationship between the two countries has diminished since Japan's isolation, there are still relatively large ties in terms of culture and academics, especially within Japan. Portugal was the first European nation to have direct negotiations with Japan, and the cultural artifacts imported at that time, such as buttons, playing cards, wine and several Japanese sweets and foods (such as tempura, konpeito, and castella), are still called by names of Portuguese origin and have left a legacy that has become entrenched in Japanese society. Likewise, some words of Japanese origin have also made their way into Portuguese vocabulary, and several pieces of Japanese culture like food, anime, manga, and Japanese technology are also popular in Portugal.

In terms of academics, Jesuit missionary Luís Fróis has left behind valuable records that provide a glimpse into feudal Japan, such as The First European Description of Japan, published in 1585, and Historia de Iapam ("History of Japan" in old-fashioned Portuguese). Another person worth mentioning is Wenceslau de Moraes, a diplomat who lived in Japan from 1899 to 1929 and died in Tokushima after Japan opened up in the 19th century after isolation during the Edo period. He left behind essays about Japan and the Japanese people. In some parts of Yamaguchi Prefecture (such as Shunan City), there is a surname of Portuguese origin called Tobacco Dani.

The Portuguese cultural institute Instituto Camões is active in Japan, represented with a cultural center in Tokyo and a large number of lectureships at various Japanese universities. There are also a number of Portuguese-Japanese friendship societies, such as the Sociedade Luso-Nipónica.

In addition, many Japanese immigrants came to Brazil from the end of the 19th century, a former colony of Portugal where Portuguese is still the official language, and from the 1980s their descendants began working in Japanese manufacturing factories. As a result, opportunities for Japanese people to come into contact with Portuguese increased. Many Brazilian players participated in the Japan Professional Football League, which was launched in 1993. Football terms such as "volante" became established in Japan. It has been pointed out that there are significant differences in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar between Portugal's Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese, and much of the Portuguese taught in Japan is Brazilian, but there is generally no problem in communication itself, which also applies to Portuguese people.

Film
The Portuguese director Paulo Rocha lived in Japan from 1975 to 1983, and he featured Japan several times in his films. Particularly worth mentioning is "Portugaru San - O Sr. Portugal em Tokushima" shot in 1993, a film about the Portuguese diplomat and author Wenceslau de Moraes. In 1996, João Mário Grilo made “Os Olhos da Ásia”, a film about the history of the Portuguese Jesuits in Japan. 20 years later, Martin Scorsese revisited the story in Silence (2016), but limited himself to the original novel by Endō Shūsaku. In 2016, the Portuguese director Cláudia Varejão portrayed the everyday life of three women who have been diving together in a small fishing village on the Shima Peninsula for 30 years with her documentary Ama-San. The film screened at a number of film festivals, where it also won several awards, including the Lisbon Doclisboa, the Czech Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, the Russian St. Petersburg Message to Man Film Festival and the Kosovo Dokufest. In 2024, the TV series Shōgun aired, based on the original novel by James Clavell.

The award-winning short film Tóquio Porto 9 horas by the Portuguese director João Nuno Brochado uses black and white split-screen technology to compare everyday life in the two cities of Tokyo and Porto, which are separated by a time difference of nine hours. Japanese director Hiroatsu Suzuki and Portuguese director Rosanna Torres worked together in 2012 to make O Sabor do Leite Creme, a documentary about an old couple in a Portuguese mountain village. The Japanese cameraman Takashi Sugimoto has worked several times for Portuguese productions. The Portuguese film institute Cinemateca Portuguesa showed film cycles on Japanese film several times, around 2012. Japanese directors are more frequent guests at Portuguese film festivals. Occasionally they also receive awards there, such as Atsushi Wada, who won the award for best animation at the most important Portuguese short film festival Curtas Vila do Conde in 2011 for "Wakaranai Buta". In 2014, Hiroyuki Tanaka won "Miss Zombie" at the Fantasporto film festival in Porto.

Football
In football, professional Portuguese footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo, is also renown among Japanese football fans. Japanese football players also play more frequently in Portugal, including international players such as Takahito Sōma or Daizen Maeda (both Marítimo Funchal), Nozomi Hiroyama at Sporting Braga or Junya Tanaka at Sporting Lisbon. The Portimonense SC club particularly frequently signs players from Japan, including Mū Kanazaki, Shoya Nakajima, Takuma Nishimura, Shiryū Fujiwara, Kōki Anzai and most recently Kodai Nagashima and Hiroki Sugajima. Kazuya Onohara has been playing for UD Oliveirense since 2020, and Kaito Anzai has been playing for Sporting Braga since 2019.

The Japan Women's National Football Team participated in the 2011 Algarve Cup and finished in 3rd place.

Basketball
In basketball, Isabel Lemos was the first Portuguese coach ever working in a profissional league in Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka senior male team of the B.League, as well as the first woman ever working as coach in professional basketball man league in Japan.

Language
As a result of the Portuguese arrival to Japan, after a continuous influx of trade between Europe and Asia, Japanese vocabulary absorbed words of Portuguese origin as well as Portuguese of Japanese. Among its great part, these words mainly refer to products and customs that arrived through Portuguese traders.

Portuguese was the first Western language to have a Japanese dictionary, the Nippo Jisho (日葡辞書, Nippojisho) dictionary or "Vocabulario da Lingoa de Iapam" ("Vocabulary of the Language of Japan" in old-fashioned Portuguese orthography), as well as the oldest extant complete Japanese grammar, the Arte da Lingoa de Iapam ("Art of the Japanese Language"), compiled by Jesuits such as João Rodrigues, published in Nagasaki between 1603 and 1608.

Martial arts
Judo has been practiced in Portugal since a demonstration by two officers of the Imperial Japanese Navy while anchored in Lisbon in the early 20th century. Since its founding in 1959, the Portuguese umbrella organization Federação Portuguesa de Judo has been organizing Japanese martial arts in Portugal. The country hosted the 2008 European Judo Championships and finished eighth with one gold and three bronze medals. At the 1995 World Judo Championships in Japan, Portugal won a bronze medal, as well as in 2003, while in 2010 it brought home a silver medal from Japan. Judo is one of the sports of the Jogos da Lusofonia, the games of the Portuguese-speaking world.

Other Japanese martial arts are also practiced in an organized manner in Portugal, particularly Jiu Jitsu, Karate and Aikidō.

Music
Portuguese and culture has also been introduced to Japan through music and martial arts, and Fado has fans in Japan as well, with Portuguese musicians and singers such as Amália Rodrigues, Maria João Pires, Dulce Pontes and Carlos do Carmo having become known among music lovers in Japan, both through performances and publications. The Japanese conductor Takuo Yuasa worked several times in Portugal. Most recently, he led the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música, the 96-piece symphony orchestra of the Casa da Música in Porto, in the two sold-out New Year's concerts there on 3 and 4 January 2020.

Twin towns
Multiple cities in both countries are in partnership or are striving to do so. The first Japanese-Portuguese town twinning was established in 1969 between Tokushima and Leiria.


 * 🇯🇵 Atami – Cascais
 * 🇯🇵 Hitoyoshi – Abrantes
 * 🇯🇵 Nagasaki – Porto
 * 🇯🇵 Nishinoomote – Vila do Bispo
 * 🇯🇵 Ōita – Aveiro
 * 🇯🇵 Ōmura – Sintra
 * 🇯🇵 Tokushima – Leiria

Timeline

 * 1541 - A Portuguese ship washes ashore in Bungo Province.
 * 1543 - A Portuguese ship washes ashore on Tanegashima. Guns were introduced to Japan.
 * 1549 - Francis Xavier arrives in Kagoshima and introduces Christianity.
 * 1553 - Bernardo the Japanese is the first Japanese to visit Europe.
 * 1556 - Diplomatic relations are established between Portugal and the Otomo clan. Luís de Almeida builds the first hospital, with Western medicine, in Ōita.
 * 1557 - Portugal obtains permanent residency in Macau from the Ming Dynasty.
 * 1560 - Yoshiteru Ashikaga's sanction for Gaspar Vilela to preach Christianity in Kyoto.
 * 1563 - Luís Fróis arrives in Japan.
 * 1565 - Battle of Fukuda Bay, the first recorded naval clash between Europeans and the Japanese.
 * 1571 - Daimyō Ōmura Sumitada assists the Portuguese in establishing the port of Nagasaki. King Sebastião I of Portugal issues a decree prohibiting the holding of Japanese in slavery without justifiable reason.
 * 1576 - Japan's first cannon is presented to Ōtomo Sōrin by Portugal.
 * 1577 - João Rodrigues arrives in Japan.
 * 1580 - Ōmura Sumitada cedes Nagasaki "in perpetuity" to the Jesuits. Portugal enters in a dynastic union with Spain.
 * 1582 - Tenshō embassy to Europe departs from Nagasaki.
 * 1584 - Mancio Itō arrives in Lisbon with three other Japanese, accompanied by a Jesuit father. He was the first Japanese envoy to Europe.
 * 1587 - Toyotomi Hideyoshi issues a document declaring the expulsion of Portuguese missionaries and freedom of trade.
 * 1603 - Nippo Jisho Japanese to Portuguese dictionary is published by Jesuits in Nagasaki, containing entries for 32,293 Japanese words in Portuguese.
 * 1610 - Destruction of the Nossa Senhora da Graça near Nagasaki, leading to a 2-year hiatus in Portuguese trade.
 * 1613 - The Edo Shogunate (Tokugawa Ieyasu) issues a ban on Christianity throughout Japan.
 * 1620 - Pingshan Changchen Incident.
 * 1636 - Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu's fourth national isolation order restricts Portuguese trade in Japan to Dejima.
 * 1637 - Shimabara Rebellion by Christian peasants.
 * 1639 - The fifth national isolation order completely prohibits trade with Portugal and Portuguese ships from entering the port and Japan.
 * 1640 - Portuguese envoys arrive in Nagasaki from Macau, but the shogunate executes all the visitors. The Bragança dynasty is established and the Kingdom of Portugal regains its sovereignty.
 * 1647 - King João IV of Portugal sends an envoy to Japan to resume trade.
 * 1649 - Portuguese envoys arrive in Nagasaki, but the shogunate refuses trade.
 * 1685 - A Portuguese ship returns Japanese castaways to Nagasaki, but trade is refused to resume.
 * 1860 - On 3 August, the Edo Shogunate and the Kingdom of Portugal sign the Treaty of Peace, Amity and Commerce. Formal diplomatic relations are established.
 * 1862 - First Japanese Embassy to Europe stops at Lisbon.
 * 1866 - The Portuguese embassy in Japan is established.
 * 1868 - Meiji Restoration. The new Meiji government inherits diplomatic relations with foreign countries including Portugal.
 * 1910 - 5 October 1910 Revolution in Portugal. Abolition of the monarchy and establishment of the First Portuguese Republic.
 * 1914 - World War I (-1918). Japan (Empire of Japan) enters the war on the Allied side.
 * 1916 - Portugal enters the war on the Allied side. The Department of Portuguese is established at Tokyo School of Foreign Studies (currently Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Department of Portuguese).
 * 1922 - The Nine-Power Treaty is concluded at the Washington Naval Conference.
 * 1924 - Supreme Council of the Allied Reparations Commission.
 * 1932 - Portugal supports the League of Nations' Lytton Commission Report. Japan opposes the move and withdraws from the League of Nations.
 * 1933 - The dictatorship of António Salazar begins in Portugal (Estado Novo).
 * 1937 - Brussels International Conference.
 * 1939 - The outbreak of World War II. Both countries declare neutrality, but Japan takes policies closer to Nazi Germany and Portugal takes policies closer to Britain.
 * 1941 - Portugal imposes economic sanctions against Japan, including asset freezes. At the outbreak of the Pacific War, Japan enters the war on the side of the Axis powers. East Timor, a Portuguese colony, is occupied by the Dutch army (Dutch East Indies Army) and the Australian army.
 * 1942 - Japan defeats the Dutch and Australian armies and occupies the entire island of Timor. Portugal remains neutral while tacitly accepting the Japanese occupation.
 * 1943 - Japan makes Macau a protectorate.
 * 1945 - Japan surrenders, ending World War II. The Japanese army that occupied Timor is disarmed, and Portuguese colonial rule was restored in Macau and East Timor.
 * 1953 - Japan and Portugal restore diplomatic relations.
 * 1959 - The Japanese Embassy in Portugal is established.
 * 1968 - The Japan Portugal Association is established in Japan.
 * 1970 - Writer Kazuo Dan stays in Santa Cruz north of Lisbon (-1972).
 * 1974 - Carnation Revolution in Portugal. The new government decides to withdraw from all overseas colonies, but continues to rule Macau.
 * 1975 - East Timor declares independence from Portugal. Immediately afterward, the Indonesian military invades and occupies the country (East Timor conflict). Portugal condemns the occupation, but Japan virtually acquiesces.
 * 1981 - The Portugal-Japan Friendship Association is established in Portugal.
 * 1986 - Portugal joins the European Economic Community (EEC). Rosa Mota wins the Tokyo International Women's Marathon.
 * 1989 - Mário Soares becomes the first Portuguese president to visit Japan for the Great Funeral Ceremony for Emperor Showa.
 * 1993 - Portugal participates in the establishment of the European Union (EU). 450th anniversary of Japan–Portugal relations. President Soares visits Japan and Princess Takamado visits Portugal.
 * 1996 - Published "Modern Portuguese Dictionary" (Mutsuo Ikegami, Norio Kinana, etc.). Carlos Queiroz becomes manager of the Nagoya Grampus Eight of the Japan Professional Football League (J League) ( -1997).
 * 1998 - Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko visit Portugal for the Lisbon Expo '98 (the first visit by an Emperor and Empress to Portugal). Former Portugal representative Paulo Futre joins Yokohama Flugels of the J League (left the same year).
 * 1999 - Portugal returns Macau to the People's Republic of China. Portuguese territory in Asia virtually disappears. Portugal introduces the euro.
 * 2002 - 2002 FIFA World Cup. The Portuguese national team plays all three matches in this tournament in South Korea and did not visit Japan. After the tournament, Nozomi Hiroyama joined SC Braga as the first Japanese player in the Primeira Liga (-2003).
 * 2004 - The then prince Naruhito travels to Portugal.
 * 2005 - Portugal participates in Expo 2005 and President Jorge Sampaio visits Japan.
 * 2010 - Portuguese film festival commemorates the 150th anniversary of diplomatic relations and friendship between Portugal and Japan since the 19th century.
 * 2011 - Japan Women's National Football Team participates in the 2011 Algarve Cup for the first time (3rd place).
 * 2020 - Portuguese festival commemorates the 160th anniversary of diplomatic relations and friendship between Portugal and Japan since the 19th century.

Resident diplomatic missions

 * Japan has an embassy in Lisbon. Japan also has an honorary consulate in Porto.
 * Portugal has an embassy in Tokyo. Portugal also has honorary consulates in Kōbe, Kyoto, Nagasaki, Nagoya, Osaka and Tokushima.