Japan Center
The UT Japan Center connects research, education, and public engagement to advance U.S.–Japan collaboration across disciplines.
About the Center
The UT Japan Center is a transdisciplinary hub for Japan Studies and U.S.–Japan relations, advancing research, professional development, and public engagement to strengthen UT’s global profile and Tennessee’s economic ties, with Japan as the state’s largest foreign investor. Tennessee currently hosts more than 200 Japanese companies, representing more than $22 billion in investment and employing more than 63,000 Tennesseans. Launched with funding from the Japan Foundation and UT support, the Center aims to support partnerships and offer trainings, consultation, and events. The Center builds on UT’s existing strengths, including a vibrant community of faculty and administrators engaged in Japan-related work, as well as hundreds of students engaged in Japan-related programs of study. The Center’s work is organized around three pillars: transdisciplinary research, professional development and student mobility, and public engagement and economic development.
Explore the Center
Events & Programming
A wide variety of Japan-related events and programs are available to the University of Tennessee and the surrounding community.
Research
The Center pursues groundbreaking research across Japan-related themes, including foodways, aging and care, and sports and society
Partnerships
Partners locally, state-wide, nationally, and internationally enhance the Center’s cutting-edge work.
News
The University of Tennessee Opens Japan Center
Asia Matters for America spotlighted the opening of UT’s New Japan Center on August 1, 2026.
Collaborative Vol Spirit Grows with Japan Center
UT’s new Japan Center officially opened on August 1, establishing a transdisciplinary hub with a mission to strengthen Tennessee’s deep and expanding ties with Japan, the state’s largest foreign investor.
Support the Japan Center
Interested in supporting the UT Japan Center? Donations from our alumni and friends ensure we continue to be a university on the rise. Help us light the way for our Volunteer community with your gift today!
月日は百代の過客にして、行かふ年も又旅人也。
The months and days are the travelers of eternity; the years that come and go are also voyagers.
Matsuo Bashō, Oku no Hosomichi (1689)
Trans. Donald Keene, Anthology of Japanese Literature (1955)