The Nippon Foundation is providing a limited-scale cultural program for tourists from overseas who are interested in Japanese culture.

The goal of this program is to increase awareness of the value of Japanese culture, both in Japan and overseas, and to cultivate a better understanding of Japan and an interest in cultural properties.

To protect traditional culture

Japan has an abundance of traditional culture across the entire country. Maintaining old buildings and precious cultural assets, however, involves special processes that use sophisticated techniques for repairs and restoration. These techniques are very expensive.

Furthermore, Japanese people’s interest in Japanese culture has waned in recent years, and precious cultural assets have been destroyed, discarded, and sold overseas.

Promoting an understanding of Japan among tourists

There has recently been a large increase in the number of tourists visiting Japan. Unfortunately, however, there are few facilities sufficiently able to convey the value of Japanese culture to these visitors. Reasons include language barriers, a lack of facilities able to accommodate non-Japanese tourists, and difficulty in identifying their needs and providing information.

The Nippon Foundation operates the Iroha Nihon project to address these issues.