Japan and the UAE

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was founded in 1971 as a federation of six emirates: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain, and Fujairah. A seventh emirate, Ras al-Khaimah, joined the federation in 1972.

The Emirate of Abu Dhabi, in which ADOC is operating, is the largest of the emirates in the federation. This emirate, which has a total land area as large as Hokkaido (approximately 67,000 square kilometers), accounts for about 87 percent of the federation’s total land area.

The UAE and Japan maintain close relations with each other, particularly in the economic field. For the UAE, Japan is a very important trading partner, both in terms of exports and imports, while the UAE has been one of Japan’s largest suppliers of crude oil.

Close bilateral relations between the UAE and Japan have been established as two-way exchanges have developed not only in the political and economic fields but also in the fields of culture, sports, science, and technology, as well as other areas. As evidence of the strong Japan-UAE relations, the late president Sheikh Zayed visited Japan in 1990 followed by Crown Prince Mohammed, and Their Imperial Highnesses the Japanese Crown Prince and Crown Princess (the present Emperor and Empress) visited the UAE in 1995. Numerous important people including the Prime Minister have also visited, and the UAE citizens have been enrolled in the Japanese school in Abu Dhabi. There are also daily direct-flight services between Narita and Abu Dhabi.

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