Independent,nonprofit thinktank for foreign policy and international studies The Japan Forum on International Relations, Inc. (JFIR or The Forum) was established originally to study international affairs and to advocate policy recommendations on the basis of such studies from the standpoint of private, non-profit and independent thinktank. Fifteen years ago when there was an atmosphere in Japan which made people think that public issues like foreign policy had better been entrusted in the hand of the rulers – as a matter of fact, almost all of the non-profit policy-oriented thinktanks in Japan at the time were Government-affiliated – the inauguration of the Forum reminded people of the departure of a ship setting sail against a head wind.