Japan–Qatar relations April 2006, an economic agreement was signed between Qatar and Japan. Also that year, the inaugural meeting of the Japan-Qatar Joint Economic Committee took place. The Qatar-Japan Business Forum was held in Qatar in August 2013, during the visit by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. There were an estimated 50 Japanese companies with offices in Qatar in 2015. In 2015, when Qatar finalized the purchase of 24 fighter jets from France, Japanese banks agreed to lend Qatar $6.8 billion for a down payment. Japan was the main destination for Qatari LNG in 2016, importing 12.1 million tonnes. This provided Japan with
Shinzō Abe Communist and Social Democratic parties walked out of the vote in protest at what they said was the government's move to force the bills through without sufficient debate and ignore "responsible opposition parties". Abe countered by arguing that the bills had been debated for "as many as 113 hours" before the vote. While common practice in many other parliamentary democracies, a government using its majority to "railroad" controversial bills though the Diet in the face of political and public opposition is a subject of criticism in Japan. As a result of these moves, Abe faced a public backlash, and opinion