Currently, the Japan Information Access Project is funded primarily by revenue from memberships, publications and cooperative efforts with universities and other nonprofit organizations. The Project has received small grants from the Japan-United States Friendship Commission, Kearny Foundation, Philip Morris, Council on Library Resources, Japan Documentation Center of The U.S. Library of Congress, Asia-Pacific Technology Program of the Department of Commerce, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, University of New Mexico, University City Science Center, National Center for Manufacturing Sciences, University of Michigan, and the Asian Law Program of the University of Washington, Seattle. The Project neither receives nor solicits funding directly from Japanese sources.

In late 1997, the Japan Information Access Project began a collaborative effort with the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission to disseminate to the policy community the research results of their funded scholars. The Commission is a federal government agency that funds the study of contemporary Japan. Topics presented by Commission-funded scholars in both public and private briefing include, Japan and Korea’s banking crisis, security policy in Asia, international competition policy, Japan’s steel cartels, Japanese healthcare reform, and the antitrust implications of Japan’s patent system.

In 1999, Phillip Morris awarded the Japan Project seed money to establish the Asia Group, a discussion forum for select women Asia policy professionals. The objective is to encourage greater and more visible participation by women in the policy process. Currently, the Japan Project is identifying candidates and will host in the fall the first meeting of the Asia Group.

From 1996 through 1998, the Japan Information Access Project had a collaborative relationship with the U.S.-Japan Industry and Technology Management Training Program (JIMT). These 12 major U.S. research universities were funded by the U.S. Air Force to create academic centers to study Japanese science, technology, management, and security. The JIMT Centers send interns to work in Japanese labs and government agencies as part of their educational program. The Project assisted these Centers to hold programs in Washington, D.C. and reported to these Centers Japan-relevant policy trends so that each Center could ensure that its research and training programs were timely and germane. The participating JIMT university centers were MIT, Vanderbilt, University of Pittsburgh/Carnegie Mellon, University of Washington, Seattle, University of Michigan, Stanford University, University of California-Berkeley, University City Science Center, Philadelphia, Utah U.S.-Japan Center, University of Texas, Austin, and the New Mexico U.S.-Japan Center. The programs the Japan Project organized in Washington for these university centers were called JIMT Briefings. The Air Force ended JIMT funding in 1999.