The foundation's mission is to direct Japanese motorboat racing revenue into philanthropic activities, it uses this money to pursue global maritime development and assistance for humanitarian work, both at home and abroad.

[7] The law and the foundation were initiatives of Ryoichi Sasakawa who, as chair, used them to both help rebuild the Japanese shipbuilding sector, and to conduct philanthropic activities around the world.

Initiatives pursued in this period include research for the development of super tankers and their engines, direct support for the shipbuilding industry, and the protection of safety in the Strait of Malacca—vital to Japan's national security, due to the fact that more than 80 percent of her oil passes this way.

In response to the Ethiopian famine of the mid-1980s, the foundation began a program of agricultural education throughout sub-Saharan Africa that eventually reached 14 countries, improving farmers’ yields by up to six times in some places.

Related to this field, the foundation also began donating specially equipped vehicles[15] to social welfare facilities and groups, enabling them to provide mobility services to the elderly and those with disability.

Since its origins, the foundation has been interested in aiding the nation's shipbuilding and maritime efforts, leading it to support both a display of a North Korean spy vessel that had been sunk by the Japanese Self Defense Forces, and a survey of Okinotori Island.

In addition, the foundation is providing support toward the establishment of a user-pays system to help the nations surrounding the Strait of Malacca in their efforts to both police the waters and maintain their environmental integrity.

[19] According to conclusion of the Investigative Commission appointed by the Peru Congress, the Nippon Foundation was one of the organizations providing financial support for the forced sterilizations of impoverished Peruvians, initially laid out in the leaked documents of "Plan Verde" and subsequently executed by the Alberto Fujimori government as part of its National Population Program.