Abstract: Japans motivation for providing educational aid to Latin America lies in achieving its geopolitical, economic, and cultural interests, ensuring its status as a influential power in the international community. To this end, Japan has extended aid in areas such as basic education, higher education, vocational and technical education, among others. During the implementation of these aid programs, Japan adopted the following strategies: based on the principle of “self-help and effort”, it pursued a practical approach combining “grassroots participation” with a “bottom-up” orientation. It established a project-based aid mechanism involving collaboration among multiple stakeholders. In practice, despite Japans emphasis on “soft aid” and cultural sensitivity, it still frequently encounters cross-cultural challenges. Currently, China has surpassed Japan as the largest Asian donor in Latin America. Studying Japans educational aid to Latin America helps us formulate and select alternative strategies, avoid pitfalls encountered in Japanese aid, and shape Chinas distinctive donor image.

Key words: Japan, Latin America, educational aid, national interest