History of IUJ Research Institute

The IUJ Research Institute was formed on April 1st, 1997　by merging four existing research institutes: The Center for Japan-U.S. Relations; The Institute for Middle Eastern Studies; The Research Institute for Asian Development; and the International Management Research Institute.

Center for Japan-U.S. Relations

The Center for Japan-U.S. Relations was established in May 1985 with financial contributions from eight of Japan’s major automobile and electronics companies – Nissan, Toyota, Sony, Toshiba, NEC, Hitachi, Fujitsu and Matsushita.The center hosted international conferences and seminars in Tokyo. On the 10th anniversary in 1995, the Center initiated an open seminar for the people in the region, titled “50th Anniversary of World War II.” Because of strong interest and demand from the local community, the Center continued an annual open seminar, which later offered three times a year. By inviting experts on international relations, the Center hopes to provide intellectual stimulation to the people in the region.

The Center sponsored joint research on current Japan-U.S. relations with the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). After the joint conference in Urasa and Washington, students from IUJ and SAIS produced a joint annual report on Japan-US bilateral relations, covering areas of politics, economy, national security and perception. The annual report has been published by the Japan Times, under the title of “The United States and Japan in 19-” since 1988 in both English and Japanese.

During the twelve years between 1985 and 1997, the Center hosted 18 joint research projects with fund coming from external organizations. The research outputs from those projects include The History of Japan-U.S.Relations (Tokyo University Press, 1995) and Redefining the Partnership (University of America Press, 1998). Among other major publications, is a book series on Japan-U.S. relations in cooperation with Japan Times, which has produced ten commercially published books on bilateral relations.

Institute for Middle Eastern Studies

The Institute for Middle Eastern Studies was established in May 1985. The Institute focused on study on Arabic language books and intellectual exchange with Middle Eastern countries. The Institute produced quarterly newsletters, Maydan, and annual reports. Among major publications was “IUJ Contemporary Middle Eastern Studies Series” which produced three books in cooperation with Sanshusha.

The Research Institute for Asian Development

IUJ originally established the Nakayama Sohei Memorial IUJ Program for Asian Development in 1988 with a generous gift from Mr. George Ishiyama. The program later developed into the Research Institute for Asian Development (1991-97). As Mr. Ishiyama emphasized, the Institute aimed to develop interdisciplinary studies to contribute the economic and social development of Asian countries. As for research areas, the Institute focused on 1) policy study on international relations of Asian development, 2) the role of Overseas Chinese in regiona

International Management Research Institute

The International Management Research Institute was established in 1988 in order to research management and market transformation with the globalization of Japanese companies and the economy as a whole. The institute’s activities included 1) researching fundamental and applied studies, 2) hosting seminars and conferences, 3) publication of research outputs.