The Japan U.S. Friendship Commission offers up to five leading contemporary and traditional artists from the United States an opportunity to spend three to five months in Japan in 2020-2021 through the U.S.-Japan Creative Artists Fellowship Program. Cultural understanding is at the heart of this program. Artists participate as seekers, as cultural visionaries, and as living liaisons to the traditional and contemporary cultural life of Japan. They also serve as connectors who share knowledge and bring back knowledge. Their interaction with the Japanese public and the outlook they bring home provide exceptional opportunities to promote cultural understanding between the United States and Japan. The Japan U.S. Friendship Commission funds this program with administrative assistance from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).
Artists should have compelling reasons for their residency in Japan, and they should conduct preliminary research to identify contacts there. The Commission encourages artists to consider collaboration with Japanese colleagues, as appropriate for the artistic field, and artists are free to interact with artists anywhere in the country. While many selected Fellows choose to remain in Tokyo, others have undertaken their residencies in other parts of Japan, urban as well as rural. Upon their arrival in Tokyo, artists will be predominantly on their own during the three to five month residency period; however, the International House of Japan provides in-depth orientation materials, expert advice and professional contacts, as well as some logistical support during the residency period. For artists applying as a team, and intending to travel to Japan as a team, the application must include the name of all team members who will be traveling to Japan.