Jiji was formed in November 1945 following the breakup of Domei Tsushin, the government-controlled news service responsible for disseminating information prior to and during World War II.

In later years Jiji developed ties with UPI, the Associated Press, AFP, Reuters and other international news organizations.

[3] Jiji is run as an employee-owned corporation and is not publicly traded, nor does it have non-employee shareholders.

Jiji has news bureaus throughout Japan and in many major cities worldwide.

Jiji is the third-largest shareholder in Dentsu, holding 5.85% of the outstanding stock (16.9 million shares) as of December 2016.