[1][2] The bilateral trading relations continued through the Dutch colonial rule and the Tungning Kingdom of Taiwan in 17th century before the completion of Japan's Sakoku policy.

During the Kingdom of Tungning era (1662–83), Japan bought deerskin, sugar and silk from Taiwan and sold precious metal, porcelain, armors and cotton cloth.

[4][5][6] In 1874, Japanese troops invaded southern Taiwan to attack aboriginal tribes, in revenge for the killing of 54 Ryukyuan sailors in 1871.

During that time, Taiwan was Japan's first colony and can be viewed as the first step in implementing their "Southern Expansion Doctrine" of the late 19th century.

The US required Japan to accept diplomatic relations with the Republic of China; otherwise, sovereignty to the country would not be restored, effectively maintaining war with the US and keeping it under US military occupation.

These actions were drafted into Article 9 of the new liberal democratic Japanese Constitution which dismantled the country's military capabilities to declare war on another country with the reservation of self-defense limitations and later stipulated the Security Treaty Between the United States and Japan, which was also passed and enacted by the majority members of the new Japanese Diet with subsequent security treaties in the post-war era.

In 1958, the Sino-Ryukyuan Economic and Cultural Association was established at Naha, Okinawa, which was the strategic headquarters of the US Armed Forces in the region.

The Guang Hua Liao (Kokaryo) case involved the ownership of a dormitory that the ROC purchased in 1952 to house students, yet the PRC controlled and operated since the 1960s.

[13] In 1977, 10 years after the ROC filed its original lawsuit, the Kyoto District Court gave a verdict: The dormitory belonged to the PRC.

The Osaka High Court found in favor of Taiwan because of "incomplete succession of government" in the case of "the State of China."

The Supreme Court held that Japan's recognition of Beijing in 1972 rendered the ROC's representation on behalf of "the State of China" invalid.

[14] Notably, the Japanese decision carefully focused on a narrow ground of standing as "the State of China," which Japan recognizes as the PRC.

[16] As a pre-condition for building ties with the PRC, Japan abrogated and made defunct the Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty in relation to the Republic of China.

According to the "1972 Japan–China Joint Communiqué", the Japanese government fully understood and respected the position of the government of the PRC that Taiwan was an inalienable territory of the PRC, and it firmly maintained its stance under Article 8 of the Potsdam Declaration,[17] which stated "The terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out and Japanese sovereignty shall be limited to the islands of Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū, Shikoku and such minor islands as we determine."

Statements and principles set in the Joint Communiqué of 1972 were written in the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and the People's Republic of China in 1978.

[27][28] On July 12, 2022, Taiwanese Vice President Lai Ching-te attended the funeral of Shinzo Abe at Zōjō-ji temple.

[56] Taiwan's donations assisted Fukushima in performing several vital reconstructions, which include rebuilding schools and hospitals.

Japanese designer Maiko Kissaka started a fundraiser on April 19, 2020, in an attempt to place ads on two newspapers to show gratitude to the Taiwanese people for donations.

These statements contradict what was suggested from Taiwanese newspapers which stated that the donations Taiwan contributed was a turning point between the relations of the two nations.

[66] However, it is undeniable that Taiwan and Japan's relations have strengthened a lot due to the exchanges after the catastrophe, both on a governmental and private level.