From its inception in 1963 to 1972 the field was limited to the winners of six important tournaments in Japan: Japan Open, Japan PGA Championship, Kansai Open, Kansai Pro Championship, Kanto Open and Kanto Pro Championship.

In some years a player won two of these event and the field was reduced further, to five.

It has recently been one of the season-ending events on the tour with a limited field consisting of the top 30 players from the money list and that season's tournament winners.

Since 1998 the tournament has been titled the Golf Nippon Series JT Cup, under a sponsorship agreement with Japan Tobacco.

From 1963 to 1990 the event was played at two venues, one near Ozaki and another near Tokyo.