Abstract: The Belt and Road Initiative adheres to the basic principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, and provides an open framework for different countries and regions to explore more suitable models for their own development. This paper analyzes the political and economic logic of Japans participation in the Belt and Road Initiative. On the one hand, from the perspective of both history and reality, the pragmatic mentality of Japans national character and Japans political vision to get rid of the Western powers and seek stronger political independence and multilateral cooperation supports their participation in the Belt and Road initiative. On the other hand, Japans economy has experienced nearly 20 years of sluggish growth, and is currently plagued by supplyside factors such as population aging. The economic structure of China and Japan well complements each other. Under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative of multilateral openness, China and Japan have broad prospects for cooperation. If Japan can successfully grasp the opportunity and cooperate with China in infrastructure investment and financing, international labor mobility and so on, there would be opportunity for mutual benefits and a winwin situation between China and Japan.

Key words: the Belt and Road Initiative, economic structure, demographic structure, SinoJapanese cooperation