In 1821, Peru declared its independence from Spain and in October 1868, Japan entered the Meiji period and began fostering diplomatic relations with several nations, after decades of isolation.

Prior to establishing formal diplomatic relations; in June 1872, Japan and Peru had a diplomatic incident when a Peruvian ship called the María Luz set sail from Macau to Callao carrying 232 Chinese indentured labourers for Peruvian plantations.

The Japanese courts charged the captain, Ricardo Herrera, of the María Luz with wrongdoing and in violation of international law and set free the Chinese nationals.

[1] A year later, in 1873, Japan and Peru formally established diplomatic relations by signing a Treaty of Friendship and Navigation.

Soon afterwards, Peru deported over 1,700 Japanese Peruvians to the United States where they were placed in internment camps after growing pressure from the U.S. to secure Latin America from "dangerous enemy aliens.

[8] The incident became known as the Japanese embassy hostage crisis and lasted until 22 April 1997 when Peruvian commandos entered the residence and killed all 14 insurgents.

Japanese Prime Minister, Ryutaro Hashimoto, thanked Peru for the release of the hostages[9] In November 2000, President Fujimori flew to Brunei to attend the 12th APEC summit.

In 2006, Fujimori left Japan and flew to Mexico and to Chile where he was arrested; he had been trying to return to Peru to run for President.

Japanese cultural and media exports to Peru include anime, J-pop, video games, language education, and food, all of which have had a significant impact on many young Peruvians.