This paper reviews the major researches on African area studies conducted during the past 20 years by Japanese geographers. Mainly three major trends are reviewed and examined to find common interests and future directions: (1) Studies by physical geographers on late Quaternary environmental history, physical as well as anthropogenic impact on formation or change of landscape, and human response to currently changing environment, (2) Studies on subsistence economy, technology and strategy of local people including concerns of interaction among local groups and historical dynamics, (3) Political economy and political ecology that focus on coping behaviors and strategies of various actors in rural as well as urban areas with unstable environment stemming from global or national political economy.