The Nippon Foundation, established in 1962, is now approaching its 50th anniversary. As befits an organization founded in Japan, an island country, our starting point is the ocean—and more specifically the Japanese shipbuilding industry.

Our predecessor, the Japan Shipbuilding Industry Foundation, was created to help Japan’s shipping industry rebuild following the devastation of World War II, using profits earmarked from motorboat racing. In its early years, the Nippon Foundation also concentrated mainly on supporting Japanese shipbuilding, contributing to a remarkable recovery of that industry in the postwar years.

With Japan’s increasing prosperity, the Nippon Foundation began to broaden its range of activities to include non-maritime activities, including such fields as education, social welfare, and public health—both within Japan and in countries worldwide.

Find out more about our history by checking out a brief timeline of our main activities or reading about the life of our founder Ryoichi Sasakawa.