For the past five decades, JCIE has been promoting closer working relations between Japanese political and opinion leaders and their foreign counterparts. We believe that building greater amity and understanding among a broad swath of leaders is vital to ensuring a stable and peaceful future for the world.

In 1968 (two years before JCIE was officially founded) we established the US-Japan Parliamentary Exchange Program, which is now the oldest bilateral exchange program between members of the US Congress and the Japanese Diet. Since then, we have organized additional political exchange programs between Japan and the United States involving Congressional staff and state and local legislators, and have conducted programs with Australian politicians as well. To date, over 1,000 leaders have participated in JCIE’s political exchange programs.

JCIE also involves political leaders in a wide range of research and dialogues—from comparative research projects on the policymaking process and the roles of parliaments, to task forces on global health or other key issues, and to participation in substantive exchanges that further bilateral relations between Japan and Korea, Germany, China, and the United Kingdom.