Japan Foundation

Japan Foundation
Founded1972; 54 years ago (1972)
FounderGovernment of Japan
TypeCultural institution
Legal statusIndependent Administrative Institution
LocationShinjuku, Tokyo
OriginsAct of the National Diet
Region served
Worldwide
ProductJapanese cultural education
Websitehttp://www.jpf.go.jp/

The Japan Foundation (国際交流基金, Kokusai Kōryū Kikin) is a Japanese foundation that spreads Japanese culture around the world. Based in Tokyo, it was established in 1972 by an Act of the National Diet as a special legal entity to undertake international dissemination of Japanese culture. It then became an Independent Administrative Institution under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 1 October 2003 under the "Independent Administrative Institution Japan Foundation Law".

The Japan Foundation aims towards comprehensive and effective development of its international cultural exchange programs in the following categories:

  1. Promotion of (Japanese) arts and cultural exchange
  2. Promotion of (overseas) Japanese-language education (the JLPT exam)
  3. Promotion of (overseas) Japanese studies and intellectual exchange – Japan Foundation Information Centers collect and provide information about international exchange and international cultural exchange standard bearers.

Prince Takamado served as administrator of the Japan Foundation from 1981 to 2002.

Japan Foundations worldwide

Building of the "Japanisches Kulturinstitut" in Cologne, Germany
The Japan Cultural Institute in Paris, France

The Japan Foundation is headquartered in Shinjuku, Tokyo, and has a subsidiary office in Kyoto. There are also two domestic Japanese-Language Institutes in Saitama and Tajiri, Osaka.

Internationally, the Japan Foundation maintains 25 overseas branches in 24 countries:

Asia and Oceania

The Americas

Europe, Middle East and Africa

Activities

Delegates of 3rd Asian Cartoon Exhibition, held at Tokyo, in July 1997, organized by The Japan Foundation Asia Center

Asian Cartoon Art Exhibition

From 1995 onward regularly inviting leading cartoonists from various Asian countries to conduct Asian Cartoon Exhibition and Conference at The Japan Foundation Asia Center, Tokyo as an annual event. Later on the same exhibition travels to the various Asian countries. In the process, it has employed the friendly medium of cartoons for introducing Asian societies to those who would like to know more about them and appreciate people other than their own kind.

Wochi Kochi Magazine

The Wochi Kochi Magazine (をちこちMagazine) is a Japanese website designed by the Japan Foundation to enhance the strength of information transmission about Japanese culture to the world. It replaced the paper magazines Kokusai-Kouryu (International Exchanges) (1974–2004) and Wochi-Kochi (Far and Near) (2004–2009). Those were the only domestic paper magazines which were especially published for "international cultural exchanges". The word "wochi-kochi" itself is a pronoun from ancient Japanese "Yamato" language meaning "here and there" or "the future and the present". As the web magazine title, "wochi-kochi" demonstrates places and times, and it expresses the desires to spread Japanese language/culture overseas, moreover, play a role as the cultural bridge among countries and people. Keeping those aspects from previous magazines, the Wochi-Kochi Magazine website carries interviews, contributed articles and serialized stories written by the experts from various professional fields each month.

Japanese Film Database (JFDB)

The Japanese Film Database (JFDB) (日本映画データベース) is an online information directory of films made in Japan. The database is co-produced by the Japan Foundation together with UniJapan, and exhibited bilingually in Japanese and English.

JFF Theater

JFF Theater
Playback page for the film Suspect X (2008); the caption warns of its available period on the platform, from August through November 2026
Website type
OTT platform
Available in
19 languages
  • Japanese
  • English
  • Arabic
  • Burmese
  • Simplified Chinese
  • Traditional Chinese
  • French
  • German
  • Hungarian
  • Indonesian
  • Italian
  • Khmer
  • Korean
  • Lao
  • Malay
  • Portuguese
  • Spanish
  • Thai
  • Vietnamese
Headquarters
Japan
OwnerJapan Foundation (2026–present)
IndustryEntertainment
Websitejff.jpf.go.jp
AdvertisingNo
CommercialNo
RegistrationRequired
Users240 thousand (August 2026)
Launched1 August 2024; 2 years ago (2024-08-01)
Current statusActive

The JFF Theater (short for Japanese Film Festival Theater) is a free online streaming platform launched by the Japan Foundation, aimed at distributing Japanese films and other works worldwide, free of charge. It was launched in August 2024, though it is a permanent version of a previous seasonal service called Japanese Film Festival Online, which had its first run in 2021, motivated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Films are available with multilingual subtitles. The service's catalog of works is dynamic, with new titles being added and some removed after some time; additionally, not all titles are available in all regions.

By September 2024, the platform had reached 20,000 registered users; two years later, in August 2026, that number had grown to 240,000.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Japan Foundation > Program Guidelines". Jpf.go.jp. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  2. ↑ "The Japan Foundation". Jpf.go.jp. 27 July 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  3. ↑ "The Japan Foundation > About Us > Overview > contents". Jpf.go.jp. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  4. ↑ Japan Foundations Worldwide, retrieved 13 March 2019
  5. ↑ 3rd Asian Cartoon and Art Exhibition : Manga Hai Kya, Comics by Shekhar Gurera
  6. ↑ 10th Asian Cartoon Exhibition at Kualalumpur : National Library of Malaysia : November 14, 2006
  7. ↑ 11th Asian Cartoon Exhibition at New Delhi : The Hindu : February 28, 2008[dead link]
  8. ↑ Wochi Kochi Magazine (をちこちMagazine) Archived 2 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ↑ Japan Foundation(English)
  10. ↑ "Resources for Japan Scholars: Japanese Film Database". JPF: Resources: Databases. Japan Foundation. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
  11. ↑ "Publications & Database". UNIJAPAN. 2014. Archived from the original on 21 March 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
  12. ↑ "Matching / Database". Japan Film Co-production Portal. UNIJAPAN. 2024. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
  13. ↑ "Japanese Studies > Films". University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
  14. ↑ "Research Guide for Japanese Studies". Harvard Library. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
  15. 1 2 JFF Theater [@jfftheater_official]; (14 August 2026). "We've hit 240,000 film fans! A huge thank you to everyone who has joined us on this journey ✨ Discover Japanese films anytime, anywhere with multilingual subtitles — all for FREE 🎬 Here's to exploring even more Japanese films together! 🍿". Retrieved 29 August 2026 – via Instagram.
  16. 1 2 3 Kotzathanasis, Panos (30 January 2025). "JFF Theater, a Platform for the Free Worldwide Streaming of Japanese Films Announces February Slate". Asian Movie Pulse. Retrieved 29 August 2026.
  17. ↑ Vinicius, Marcus (5 February 2025). "JFF Theater: O site de streaming de filmes japoneses online e gratuito" [JFF Theater: The streaming website for Japanese films that's online and free]. Geek Pop News (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 29 August 2026.
  18. ↑ Vann-Wall, Silvi (5 December 2024). "JFF Theater's free films make Japanese cinema accessible online". ScreenHub. Retrieved 29 August 2026.
  19. ↑ "News | Page 4 of 5". JFF Theater. Archived from the original on 30 August 2026. Retrieved 29 August 2026.

35°41′15″N 139°43′04″E / 35.687447°N 139.717781°E / 35.687447; 139.717781