Japan appreciated Socialist Yugoslavia's independent non-aligned foreign policy stance.

[1] The representation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in Tokyo was opened in 1924 while the agreement of trade between the two countries was signed in Vienna in 1925.

[3][2] Two countries reestablished their bilateral relations in 1952 and Japan opened its representation in Belgrade that same year.

[2] In 1965, the Japanese architect Kenzo Tange was invited by the United Nations to enter a limited competition for the redevelopment of Skopje, capital of the Yugoslav constituent Socialist Republic of Macedonia, after devastating 1963 Skopje earthquake.

[5] President of Yugoslavia Josip Broz Tito visited Japan during the cherry blossom season of 1968.