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Current Program Guidelines

History and Organization

The Japan-United States Friendship Commission (JUSFC) was established as an independent federal agency by Congress in 1975 (PL 94-118). It administers a US government trust fund that originated in the return to the Government of Japan of certain US facilities in Okinawa and with postwar American assistance to Japan. Income from the fund is available for the promotion of scholarly, cultural and public affairs activities between Japan and the United States.

The purpose of the Commission’s programs is defined in the Japan-United States Friendship Act as "aid to education and culture at the highest level in order to enhance reciprocal people-to-people understanding and to support the close friendship and mutuality of interests between the United States and Japan." This purpose, in turn, is important to the United States because, in the words of the Act, "the continuation of close United States-Japan friendship and cooperation will make a vital contribution to the prospects for peace, prosperity and security in Asia and the world."

The fund and programs are administered by a board of eighteen US citizens representing the legislative and exec-utive branches of the US government and the fields of scholarship, law, media, business, public affairs and the arts in the private sector. The Friendship Act provides that the Commission shall be composed of the twelve members of the US Panel of the United States-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange (CULCON), which includes nine private citizens, two representatives from the Department of State and one representative from the Department of Education. The Commission also includes the Chairpersons of the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and two members from the US Senate appointed by the President Pro Tempore, and two members of the House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker. The Commission's congressional members serve in an advisory, non-voting capacity.

The Commission seeks a consultative and cooperative relationship with public and private organizations in both the United States and Japan. As an independent agency of the US government, accountable to Congress and the President, the Commission is not constrained by formal advisory relationships with other agencies of the executive branch or of the Japanese government. While the Commission maintains close liaison with the official cultural and educational exchange agencies of both governments, its program decisions are made solely by the Commission’s members acting in their Commission capacity.

Through a series of internal meetings and broad consultations with American and Japanese authorities and institutions interested in similar objectives, the Commission has developed four programmatic area for grant support from the broad authorities contained in the Friendship Act. These form the basis for evaluating requests, making grant decisions, and stimulating new activities in both countries, in the interest of US-Japan communication and co-operation. Thus, requests for grant support are considered by the Commission under the following four areas:

These areas have been chosen on the basis of the Commission's considered judgment that both highly trained specialists and a much broader public understanding and cultural involvement are essential to a stable foundation for the US-Japan relationship in the years ahead.

Potential applicants are urged to note the high priority the Commission places on sharing overall costs with other funding sources, as outlined in "Criteria for Support." Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to consult with Commission staff on current Commission priorities.