This chapter presents an empirical analysis of Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) to Latin America between 1960 and 2001, with particular emphasis on the Brazilian case. Using comparative and longitudinal data, it reconstructs the evolution of ODA flows by sub‑periods and relates them to changes in Japan’s economic diplomacy and in the international context. The chapter explores the extent to which ODA was associated with trade expansion, access to natural resources, the attraction of foreign direct investment and the management of regional crises such as the debt crisis of the 1980s. It also considers the role of Japanese public agencies and large corporations, especially the Sogo Shosha, in linking aid to concrete economic projects in infrastructure, energy and manufacturing. The final section offers an assessment of the correlation between ODA and Japan’s commercial surplus with Latin American countries, as well as the limits and asymmetries of this relationship from the perspective of the North–South debate.