The Japan Foundation was established in 1972. Its purpose is promoting cultural co-operation between Japan and other countries of the world. From October 1, 2003, it has been operating as a special status independent administrative organization, thus its resources may be complemented by donations from the private sector apart from the central budget. By this reform, we hope that our work shall become more effective and more approachable for an increasing number of people.
The activities of the Japan Foundation may be divided into three categories: exchange, research, study and art fellowships, support for Japanese language teaching institutions and support for the study on Japan. All this is further supported by a fourth pillar, the Information Centre, which is collecting, organising and publishing information related to international exchange.
The Budapest Office has been established in 1991 after a Japanese-Hungarian intergovernmental decision, as the fourteenth of the foreign offices belonging to The Japan Foundation. Its activity covers not only Hungary but the countries of the Central and Eastern European region as well, namely Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia. The Japan Foundation maintains an office in Budapest, Hungary only.
The Japan Foundation Office in Budapest is meant to take Central and Eastern European-Japanese cultural relations to a greater depth, which is supported by carrying out the programs The Japan Foundation launches each year all over the world, offering opportunities in the field of Arts and Cultural Exchange, Japanese-Language Education Overseas and Japanese Studies and Intellectual Exchange. The Budapest Office also organizes and supports programs and events independent from the official programs of the Tokyo headquarters that we welcome applications for not only from Hungary but all countries mentioned above.
Inside of the establishment we run a library, Japanese language courses, host lectures related to Japanese culture and smaller exhibitions, while outside of the office we have a tradition of organizing cinematic events and traveling exhibitions, furthermore we are active in theatrical and musical productions.
Director: FUJII Mami
Deputy Director: OKI Kohei
Senior Japanese Language Adviser: YASHIMA Yasuhiro
Japanese Language Specialist: ADACHI Kenji
Administrative Officer: MÉSZÁROS Gábor
Program Officer: NIKOLÉNYI Gergely (Inquiries: Projects related to Japanese language education)
Program Assistant: ZUGOR Valentina (Inquiries: Projects related to performing arts, exhibitions and films)
Program Assistant: TRAN Hong Hoa (Inquiries: Projects related to literature, Japanese studies, library and films)