Early Philippine Relation with Arabia and Japan

Japanese relations with the Philippines,like Chinese relations with the country, were limited to trade. Historical records show that Japanese traders, especially those from Nagasaki, frequently visited the Philippine shore and bartered Japanese goods for such Filipino products as gold and pearls.In the course of time,shipwrecked Japanese sailors, pirate traders, and immigrants settled in the Philippines and intermarried with the early Filipinos. When the Spaniards reached the Islands of Luzon in 1571, they found Japanese colonies and settlements in Manila and in some parts of Cagayan Valley,the cordillera region,Lingayen,Bataan, and Catanduanes Island. The relatively light complexion of the natives of Bondoc and Banaue is probably a result of the early contacts between the Japanese and other Islanders from south of Japan and the natives of the cordillera.

Philippine relations with the Arabs started in the thirteenth century when the latter established a trading post at Canton in Southern China. In the course of their trips to China, the Arab traders visited various spots in the Philippines,notably Palawan, Mindanao, Mindoro and certain parts of Luzon,especially Pangasinan.Through these,Arabian cultural influences reached the archipelago.