Founded in 1976 on the campus of Nanzan University, it has established itself in Japan and around the world as a center of academic excellence through its publications, conferences, and team of permanent researchers.
[1] The Institute's founder and first director was the Jesuit theologian Heinrich Dumoulin,[2] followed by the Belgian philosopher Jan Van Bragt.
[4] The staff is made up of a group of 5 Permanent Research Fellows who belong nominally to the faculty of Arts and Letters of Nanzan University but who are relieved of most teaching and committee obligations in order to focus on the specific work of the Institute.
In addition, since the beginning post-doctoral scholarships have been offered to promising young scholars in Japan to spend two years at the Institute sharing in its activities and making their own contribution to its ever-growing range of interests.
Finally, there has been a steady stream of scholars from around the world spending longer or shorter periods of time on a particular project related to the aims of the Institute.