To increase the efficiency of the hydraulic axial piston pumps, it is need to know the various characteristics in the sliding contact parts of them. Especially, friction characteristics between the cylinder block and the valve plate in the hydraulic axial piston pumps plays an important role to high power density. In this paper, we tried to clarify friction characteristics between the cylinder block and the spherical valve plate in bent-axis-type axial piston pump in experimentally. Results are arranged as follow; (1) friction torque between the cylinder block and the spherical valve plate has a proportional relation to weight or rotational speed, and is strongly affected by temperature. (2) Friction torque strongly depends on force balance ratio in valve plate. (3) In this experiment, lubrication condition between the cylinder block and the spherical valve plate is under hydrodynamic lubrication.