This paper is an assessment of Japan's relationship with post-Apartheid South Africa, and aims to exam the economic relations between the two countries. The concentration of the analysis is, however, on Japan's responses to South Africa's endeavors to develop its economy, and specifically the relative growth of Japanese investments in South Africa in the context of TICAD. As a corollary, the paper examines the objectives behind these recent Japanese initiatives in South Africa. In doing so, it examines Japanese economic assistance to Pretoria, thus bringing into perspective the role of the Japanese government in initiatives by the Japanese private sector abroad.