This article examines the current state of the evolution of Japanese-Turkmen relations in the context of bilateral political and economic cooperation, socio-cultural ties and people-to-people relations. Tokyo’s first attempts to gain a political foothold in Central Asia were conceived in the early 1990s, when several new independent states appeared and Tokyo began to propose new concepts of foreign policy as well as formats for interaction with non-neighbors. However, the problems that arose in the new political regimes were not easy to overcome. Among other countries, resource-rich Turkmenistan with a stable political regime looked more reliable than its neighbors. During the last three decades Japan and Turkmenistan have been able to implement a number of large-scale projects, find formats for interaction on a political spectrum in the region, create a bilateral relationship and ensure cooperation. This allowed large Japanese companies to enter the local market, find their niche and gain a political foothold in the region without competing with China and Russia. While Turkmenistan not only developed its energy infrastructure and discovered an effectively model of the sale of natural resources, but began considering new non-resource sectors of its own economic growth.
