About the Center

The Center for Japan-U.S. Business and Economic Studies was formed in 1984 with seed money from the C.V. Starr Foundation and from American and Japanese corporations.   From 1985 to 2005, the Center was headed by Professor Ryuzo Sato, now retired.   Professor Edward Lincoln became the new director of the Center in the fall of 2006. 

The mission of the Center is to provide the Stern    School, the wider NYU community, and the public with information and analysis of the Japanese economy, U.S.-Japan economic relations, and broader East Asian economic issues.  The Center sponsors conferences, panel discussions, and individual speakers on these topics during the academic year.  In addition, the Center supports academic research, some of which has been published in a series of monographs by Cambridge University Press and Kluwer Academic Press.  Work in progress by associates of the Center is available through a Working Paper series. 

The Center’s yearly activities are detailed in the annual activity report (click link to see the pdf file of the 2008 Activity Report and the previous 2005-2007 Activity Report) as well as on the Japan Center Blog at http://blogs.nyu.edu/blogs/jr197/japan/.  An earlier report issued in 2005 includes a complete history of the Center since its inception, available by clicking 2004-2005 Activity Report.

The Center is funded through income from endowments provided by corporations and foundations.   Principle donors to the endowment include the C.V. Starr Foundation, Long Term Credit Bank (now the Shinsei Bank), Asahi Bank (today’s Resona Holdings), Sanwa Bank (today’s Tokyo- Mitsubishi UFG Group), and an individual gift from Mrs. Fumiko Hosoda.