Greece/Japan

Greece/Japan is a mildly popular slash pairing in Axis Powers Hetalia, involving the characters of Greece and Japan.

The pairing is sometimes referred to as Giripan, a portmanteau of the first few syllables of Greece's name in Japanese and the last syllable of Japan's name.

Greece and Japan and the Cat Relation

At the beginning of the strip, Greece tella that he has been great friends with Japan for a long time saying that he felt grateful to Japan for helping him with his trade deficits and selling him inexpensive yet durable cars from his country.

Greece also enjoys visiting Japan to see more of his culture, such as samurai and shrines.  Japan was shows and explains to Greece how to invoke the gods at one of his shrines. After noticing Greece looking unsure what to say, Japan asked him what is wrong. Greece answered him, asking if it was okay for him to wish for the death of his neighbor Turkey, Japan told him to "express it more mildly."

Lazy Comic Country

In the first strip ("This Exchange Continues Back and Forth for Another 15 times'), Greece attempts to learn how to speak Japanese from a guidebook and kept on consulting Japan on whether he was saying the phrases properly or not.

The second strip ("Greece and Japan's All-Too-Slow Paced World"), Greece said to Japan that he'd like to be reincarnated as a cat and be free from GDP and trade deficits, but that he didn't think it would come true.  Japan then placed a pair of cat ears on his head. Greece tries to ask something along the lines of "Am I the child of a cat?" but Japan seems confused because of  his imperfect Japanese.

The final strip ("Frequency") was based on the results of the2005 Durex Global Sex Survey, where Greece is placed #1 in the frequency of sex universally and Japan was placed last. After confirming the findings with Greece, Japan said he envied his ability to have that much action as he considers himself to be an old man who lacks the energy to do it. Greece replies that Japan should learn how to enjoy sex more, 'but it might hurt at first'. The scene then cuts to a view outside of Japan's house with Japan screaming so loudly inside China, who is next to him, yells at him to be quiet. In the next panel, a naked (or at least shirtless) Japan was seen bolting up in bed, yelling about how relieved he is that it was all a dream, even though Greece is shown sleeping next to him.

Rainy Day

While walking together under an umbrella in the rain with Greece, Japan asks him why is he keeping his face turned away from him. Greece answers that it is because the rain makes his hair unnaturally curly and that he didn't want Japan to see his hair in that state. Japan can't see any difference between the way Greece's hair usually was and the way his hair looks now, and tells him that his hair looks the same as usual and that he'd like to know what the difference his 'normal' and 'bed hair' is. Greece appears to be upset by his words, until he recalled something France once said about "humiliation play" and wondered out loud if this was what was happening right now. A later panel showed that Japan felt down afterwards, he felt better seeing the hair iron that he stored away, impling he might give it to Greece. 

Other Strips

In "Soon Already," Japan and Greece went on a shopping trip to find a present for America's upcoming birthday. Japan said that since America is childish, they could buy something like a toy. Greece showed Japan some possible gifts, but Japan said that they wouldn't make good ones for America, first telling him that a small stuffed cat wouldn't be a typical gift for a man and then saying "It's not about the size" when Greece shows him a much larger stuffed cat.

Greece asked Japan in "Super Angry Japan" if it was really true that no one had ever seen him get angry. The two agreed to try and get mad together; Greece easily succeeds by thinking about Turkey laughing at him, but Japan could only work himself up to a mildly dissatisfied state. After asking if Japan is even mad, Japan replied he was quite furious. Greece asks if he can get more violently angry, he suggested that he thinks about wasting money to make Japan even angrier, which was implied to have worked so well that a frantic Greece called up Turkey and asked to borrow a camera from him to take pictures of Japan in his 'super angry' state.

"Do your best, Japanese snacks!" was mainly about other countries trying out the Japanese snack "takenokoyama" they found it either distasteful or not worth taking, Greece is the only shown country who appeared to enjoy the snack, to the point of calling in his people and having them eat all of it.

Greece begans telling Japan in the strip, "Giant Moussaka", that he made a movie about a moussaka turned enormous by aliens, but fell asleep before he could finish describing it to him.

In the Hetalia Fantasia CD, Japan briefly mentioned Greece being unable to join in the RPG because Internet costs were too high at his place.

In the Manga

In Volume 2 of the published manga, there was a chapter about Greece and Japan's relations that clearly borrowed elements from several webcomic strips.  Their roles from Greece and Japan and the Cat Relation were reversed here, with Japan as the one visiting Greece's country, learning more about his culture and gods. Their mutual interest in cats and Greece's attempts to speak Japan's language were also shown, and the "Super Angry Japan" part was lifted almost directly from the original webcomic.

Partway through Japan's tour of Greece, Turkey shows up and he and Greece got into an argument about which one Japan got along with more, with Turkey accusing Greece of trying to "invade" Japan and Greece telling him not to talk to Japan.  When the two confronted Japan on which one of them he preferred, he avoided giving a proper answer, instead declaring that they should settle this with rock, paper, and scissors. This got awkward for all of them, so Japan tried to lighten things up by showing them a trick, they were both amazed thinking his thumb is really detached.

Fan Speculations

There is some debate on whether Japan's exclamation that "It was all a dream!" at the end of Lazy Comic Country while he's naked or shirtless in bed with Greece is meant to be taken at face value or as a statement of denial about what really happened, but the general consensus is that it's most likely the latter.  Either way, this strip is the only time so far in the webcomic series where sexual intercourse is heavily implied to have occurred between two characters.

There are also some implications in other strips that Greece and Japan's interactions may have more than friendship behind them, the most notable being the Rainy Day strip where Greece and Japan share an umbrella, an action seen as romantic in Japanese culture. In the same strip, Greece wonders if "humiliation play" (apparently a reference to asexual ploy) has something to do with Japan's statements about his hair that left him feeling hurt, which seems to indicate that Greece cares a lot about what Japan thinks of him and wouldn't be adverse to the possibility of Japan wanting to have sex with him at the very least, especially when coupled with him implicitly teaching Japan how to enjoy sex more in Lazy Comic Country (if that scene really wasn't a dream Japan was having, that is).

Greece and Turkey are also seen by some fans as rivals in love where Japan is concerned, as they get into arguments about which one of them Japan pays more attention to. Japan avoids answering their question about which one of them he favors, but the fact that he has been shown together with Greece much more often than with Turkey (in fact, Turkey has yet to receive a single strip with Japan that doesn't also include Greece) makes it highly likely that if Japan has a preference, he prefers Greece.

Even with all of this, however, the Greece/Japan pairing does not appear to be as popular as the others (e.g. Germany/Italy and Sweden/Finland) who have received canonical hints, possibly because Japan has not been shown interacting with Greece (who historically would have been on the opposing side) at any time in the main storyline strips (in fact, Greece's only appearances are in the modern day strips, and he's usually not considered one of the main characters) and that their close modern day relationship, while explicitly based on real-life cultural exchange and diplomatic relations between the two countries, does not have any significant historical events or alliances associated with it unlike with the other hinted-at couples.

Moments

Published Manga

• Greece and Japan's Loose Relations (Axis Powers Hetalia volume 2)

Webcomic: Extra Stories

• Greece and Japan and the Cat Relation
• Lazy Comic Country
• Rainy Day
• Do Your Best, Japanese Snacks!

Webcomic: Comic Diaries

• Comic Diary 6 ("Soon Already")
• Comic Diary 7 ("Giant Moussaka")
• Comic Diary 10 ("Super Angry Japan")