Belgium–Japan relations
bilateral relations between Belgium and Japan
Belgium–Japan relations are the bilateral relations between Belgium and Japan. Belgium has an embassy in Tokyo. Japan has an embassy in Brussels.
First official relations (1866–1893)
On 1 August 1866, Japan and Belgium signed the Japan-Belgium Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation. On the Belgian side, it was negotiated and signed by August t'Kint de Roodenbeek, the first Belgian diplomat to visit Japan after the country opened up in 1859. On the basis of this bilateral treaty, a Belgian vice consulate was established in Yokohama on 28 March 1867, headed by the Dutch businessman Maurice Lejeune. In the late 1860s, Belgium was represented by the Dutch minister-resident Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek, who was also able to negotiate bilateral trade treaties with Japan.
From the Sino-Japanese War to World War II
The new minister resident of the King of the Belgians to Japan, Baron Albert d'Anethan, arrived in Yokohama in October 1893. He moved the Belgian legation to Tokyo in November of that same year. In 1894, d’Anethan was promoted to the rank of envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary.
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