| Sumario: | In January 2023, Japan and Italy elevated their bilateral relations to a strategic partnership, signalling a deeper commitment to security and strategic cooperation. This move reflects Tokyo's strategy of diversifying its security partnerships beyond its longstanding alliance with the United States. Since the late 2000s, Tokyo has sought closer ties with European partners committed to fostering stability across the Transatlantic and Indo-Pacific regions. Italy represents a more recent addition to this network. While both countries share longstanding diplomatic relations, their cooperation in the security domain is a relatively new development that merits closer examination. This article introduces the concept of reputation-based trust to investigate how trust shapes the formation stage of the Japan–Italy strategic partnership. Through interviews with Japanese defence officials and experts, it argues that trust in this emerging partnership is grounded in reputation-based expectations of Italy as a credible, reliable, and trustworthy partner. These expectations are central to the early construction of trust and inform Japanese perceptions of enhanced security cooperation. Nonetheless, gaps in trust remain and must be addressed for the relationship to mature. The article contributes to the literature on strategic partnerships, highlighting the often-overlooked role of trust in their formation and early development.
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