The Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research (Japanese 東京財団政策研究所 Tōkyō Zaidan Seisaku Kenkyūsho) is a Japanese public policy think tank. It is a private-sector, not-for-profit institute conducting independent research and rigorous analysis of policy challenges confronting Japan and other industrial nations.^[1] It is also engaged in leadership development, administering several fellowship programs to nurture the next generation of leaders in countries around the world.^[2]

• Founded: July 1, 1997
• President: Izumi Kadono (since June 2018)
• Chief scientific adviser: Kiminori Matsuyama (since December 2018)^[3]
• Address: Roppongi Grand Tower 34F, 3-2-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan, 106-6234
• Endowment: Approx. 37 billion yen^[4] (as of March 31, 2019)

The Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research was founded on July 1, 1997, as the “Global Foundation for Research and Scholarship” with donations from the Japanese Shipbuilding Industry Foundation (now the Nippon Foundation) and Japan’s boat-racing industry following authorization by the Minister of Transport (now the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, and Tourism).^[5]

Nippon Foundation Chairman Yōhei Sasakawa serves as adviser to the president.^[6] Additional sources of its endowment at the time of its founding included 3 billion yen from the Ship and Ocean Foundation (now part of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation) and 8 billion yen from the Sasakawa Peace Foundation.^[7]

It was renamed the “Tokyo Foundation” in May 1999; became a public interest incorporated foundation on April 1, 2010, upon authorization by the Cabinet Office; and adopted its current name, “The Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research,” in February 2018 as part of its reorganization into a more research-intensive institute for evidenced-based, theoretically informed policy studies.^[8]

Notable scholars like Gerald Curtis and Katsuhito Iwai, senior fellows when the organization was known as the Tokyo Foundation, are still associated with the think tank as distinguished fellows.

Its activities during the years as the Toyo Foundation centered on three domains, as expressed in its tagline: (1) Developing People, (2) Investing in People, and (3) Transforming Society.^[9] Since its restructuring following its twentieth anniversary, the Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research has aimed to become a public policy think tank that (1) conducts rigorous, high-quality research, (2) pursues its activities from an independent and not-for-profit viewpoint, and (3) changes society for the better by offering a broad range of policy options.^[10] Its leadership development initiatives are focused on developing “socially engaged leaders with outstanding academic credentials who are capable of transcending differences in an increasingly divisive world.”^[11]

• Kimindo Kusaka
• Heizō Takenaka
• Hideki Katō
• Masahiro Akiyama
• Takeo Hoshi
• Izumi Kadono (since June 2018)

Parentheses indicate position during their affiliation with the Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research. Other titles cited are major, non-Foundation affiliations.

• Reiko Akiike (Trustee), Managing Director & Senior Partner, Boston Consulting Group
• Motoshige Itoh (Trustee), Professor, Gakushūin University; Professor Emeritus, University of Tokyo
• Katsuhito Iwai (Distinguished Fellow), Visiting Professor, International Christian University; Professor Emeritus, University of Tokyo
• Ke Long (Senior Fellow)
• Gerald Curtis (Distinguished Fellow), Burgess Professor of Political Science, Columbia University
• Yoriko Kawaguchi (Distinguished Fellow), Minister for Foreign Affairs, Japan
• Ryō Kambayashi (Senior Fellow), Professor, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University
• Keiichirō Kobayashi (Research Director), Visiting Professor, Faculty of Economics, Keiō University
• Shin’ichi Kitaoka (Distinguished Fellow), president, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
• Kazumasa Kusaka (Trustee), President, Japan Economic Foundation
• Reiko Kuroda (Trustee), Designated Professor, Institute of Science and Technology Research, Chubu University; Professor Emeritus, University of Tokyo
• Yōhei Sasakawa (Adviser to the President), Chairman, The Nippon Foundation
• Kimito Nakae (Auditor), President, Rokinren Bank
• Toshihiko Fukui (Nonexecutive Director), President, Canon Institute for Global Studies
• Masahito Monguchi, Adviser, Anderson Mori & Tomotsune
• Tsuneo Watanabe (Senior Fellow)
• Masahiko Aoki (Distinguished Fellow), Professor of Economics, Stanford University

• Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research English website
• Sylff Association website