The Japan Forum on International Relations, Inc.(JFIR) was established on March 12, 1987, in Tokyo on the private initiative of Dr. OKITA Saburo, Mr. HATTORI Ichiro, Mr. ITO Kenichi, and 60 other independent citizens from business, academic, political, and media circles of Japan, with the recognition that a policy-oriented research institution in the field of international affairs independent from the government was most urgently needed in Japan. And on April 1, 2011, JFIR was reincorporated as a "Public Interest Foundation" with the authorization granted by the Prime Minister in recognition of its achievements.

JFIR is a private, non-profit, independent, and non-partisan organization dedicated to improved understanding of Japanese foreign policy and international relations. JFIR takes no institutional position on issues of foreign policy, though its members are encouraged not only to analyze but to propose alternatives on matters of foreign policy. While JFIR helps its members to formulate policy recommendations on matters of public policy, the views expressed in such recommendations represent in no way those of JFIR as an institution, and the responsibility for the contents of the recommendations is solely that of those who sign them.