The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) has established the San Francisco Office as their 9th oversea office in Berkeley, California in 2003, and appointed Professor Seishi Takeda as its director.

JSPS is an independent administrative institution under the jurisdiction of Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). Originally founded as a non-profit foundation in 1932 through an endowment by Emperor Showa, JSPS has functioned for over 70 years as Japan's central implementing body of programs to promote science in all fields, including humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, engineering, and medicine. Please see JSPS at a glance.

One of JSPS's main areas of emphasis is the promotion of international scientific cooperation. In the United States, JSPS has a Washington Office; and with a number of counterpart institutions, it carries out an array of a bilateral programs including researcher exchange. We, the San Francisco Office will promote cooperation with academic communities on the West Coast of the North American Countries, and will assume the following functions:

1. To communicate with academic institutions with regard to the implementation of JSPS programs.
   
   
2. To disseminate and gather information and materials needed in promoting scientific cooperative activities in the US, Canada and, Japan.
   
   
3. To provide information and assistance to US researchers interested in applying for JSPS fellowships, and to offer follow-up service to US researchers who have completed JSPS programs.
   
   
4. To provide logistics assistance to Japanese researchers visiting the US in pursuit of their research work.