Iran Allows Japanese Oil Tanker to Pass Through Strait of Hormuz Without Toll Due to Historical Ties
Iran has recently allowed a Japanese-affiliated supertanker (Idemitsu Maru, carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi crude oil) to pass through the Strait of Hormuz without charging a toll. This is the first Japanese-affiliated tanker to successfully transit since the outbreak of the US-Iran conflict.
Iran specifically mentioned the 1953 "Nissho Maru Incident": at that time, the Nissho Maru tanker of Japan's Idemitsu Kosan Company broke through the British oil blockade against Iran and successfully transported Iranian crude oil back to Japan, becoming a symbol of Iran-Japan friendship.
The Japanese TV drama "Ashin" achieved extremely high ratings in Iran (over 90%), deeply embedding itself in the cultural memory of the Iranian people and further strengthening the cultural ties between the two countries.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
Iran's 1953 Nissho Maru Incident, where Idemitsu Kosan risked breaking the British blockade, has long symbolized Iran-Japan relations. Iran's recent decision to allow the passage of a tanker affiliated with the same company amid tensions in the Strait of Hormuz continues its strategy of using historical sentiment as a diplomatic tool.
On a capital route, Iran's selective allowance of the Japanese tanker (rather than others) is a gesture towards Japan to gain diplomatic and economic space while maintaining actual control over the Strait; Japan, in turn, is ensuring the security of its energy imports (93% of Japan's oil depends on the Middle East) to prevent further deterioration of the energy crisis.
Similar historical grievances are being reactivated in modern geopolitical conflicts (such as historical narratives in the Russia-Ukraine conflict). Currently, under the backdrop of US-Iran tensions, Iran-Japan relations are at a stage of maintaining limited pragmatic cooperation through historical and cultural ties, focusing on exceptional arrangements for the security of energy transport routes.
Essentially, this represents a transfer of pricing power under capital concentration: Iran is opening the Strait to specific countries using historical friendship as leverage, shifting the oil transport pricing power and passage permissions from a unified blockade to selective allowances. The mechanism involves transforming historical sentiment and cultural soft power into actual energy flow facilitation, allowing Japan's energy supply chain to gain a relative advantage amid conflict while reinforcing Iran's proactive position in regional energy dynamics.