Abstract: Since the end of cold war, Japan has used the Tokyo International Conference on African Development as the pillar, and economic aid as main instrument, to strengthen the economic diplomacy toward Africa continuously. Especially in recent years, Japan emphasized ODA and private sector investment in parallel, and encouraged a further shift from aid to investment in Africa, aiming to speed up the capture of African market.By boosting economic ties, Japan intended to promote political and security cooperation for improved presence and discourse power in African continent and even in international community.The stance to counterbalance China politically and economically become quite significant. A review of the evolution and possible trends of Japan’s economic diplomacy toward Africa is helpful for us to clarify Japan’s role in our African strategy, and to respond more actively.

Key words: economic diplomacy, Africa, TICAD, ODA, investment