The article analyzes historical and economic factors of the formation and development of Japan's relations with developing countries of the South. The author identifies and examines the historical background and the latest trends in the provision of assistance for the development and cooperation of Japan with developing countries on the example of two macroregions– Asia and Africa. Japan's position in the system of North – South relations is specific. Japan is one of the world's economic leaders that passed the stage of catching-up development later than other countries of the so-called “late capitalism”. The most important factor determining the nature of Japan's relations with the countries of the South is also the fact that it was the first Asian country to occupy a place in the group of developed economies, setting an example to other Asian economies that have embarked on the path of modernization. Japan's interaction with the developing world in the second half of the twentieth century developed in two interrelated directions. This is economic assistance (ODA), which has been and remains the most important foreign policy and economic instrument of Japan, and the development of the markets of these countries, primarily Asian, by Japanese companies. In the twenty-first century, Japan's cooperation with the developing world has acquired a new quality through a certain shift in ODA towards global infrastructure projects for development, including through the Indian and Pacific free and open zone Strategy (Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy). Among the current trends in Japan's relations with the developing world, attention is drawn to the diversification of regional priorities and the turn towards the African continent, as well as the intensification of activities within the framework of the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The author puts forward and substantiates the hypothesis of the formation of a two-level system of relations between Japan and the South. Japan's cooperation with African countries is developing mainly within the framework of the formats of economic assistance in its traditional sense. At the same time, a new format of interaction between Japan and the developing countries of East and South-East Asia is emerging, which is becoming more harmonious, “horizontal” in nature.