Israel–Japan relations 2015, as well as internal political shifting in Japan, the two nations are seeking increased research, economic and cultural ties, particularly in the area of tech start-ups and defense. Today ties between Israel and Japan were strengthened significantly, with many mutual investment between the two nations. Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe visited Israel twice - once in 2015 and a second time in 2018. In 1922, Norihiro Yasue and Koreshige Inuzuka, head of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Advisory Bureau on Jewish Affairs, returned from their military service in Siberia to provide aid to the White movement against the Red Army.
2014 Japanese general election re-appointed). The turnout in this election is the lowest in Japanese history. In 2012, the Democratic Party government under Yoshihiko Noda decided to implement a raise of the Japanese consumption tax. Following this move, the Liberal Democratic Party under Shinzo Abe regained control of the Japanese government in the December 2012 general election. Abe proceeded to implement a series of economic programs known as "Abenomics" in a bid to stimulate the economy. Despite these programs, Japan entered a technical recession in mid-2014, which Abe blamed on the consumption tax hike, even though many members of the LDP supported the hike.