Japan Society Inc
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
JAPAN SOCIETY IS THE PREMIER ORGANIZATION CONNECTING JAPANESE ARTS, CULTURE, BUSINESS, AND SOCIETY WITH AUDIENCES IN NEW YORK AND AROUND THE WORLD. IN FY2024, ATTENDANCE ONSITE WAS 36.9K WITH 3.3K PARTICIPATING IN ONLINE PROGRAMS.
- Income
- $14.9 million
- Spending
- $14.0 million
- Spent on programs
- 62%
- Reserves
- 8.5 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 39%
- Employees
- 110
- Volunteers
- 335
- Highest pay
- $609,634, president & ceo
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Good: 86 out of 100. Higher than 68% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, $10m to $100m).
Reserves
28 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 8.5 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 1% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 6% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 19% on the year before.
Spending floor
8 of 1562% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 27 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 34% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, $10m to $100m).
Independent board
25 of 2555 of 56 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
15 of 15Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (4)
- $2.1 million spent. IN THE FALL, JAPAN SOCIETY GALLERY TRANSFORMED ITS GALLERY SPACE TO HOST TWO SIMULTANEOUS EXHIBITIONS: BUNRAKU BACKSTAGE AND ACKY BRIGHT: STUDIO INFINITY (OCTOBER 4, 2024-JANUARY 19, 2025). BUNRAKU BACKSTAGE OFFERED A RARE BEHIND-THE-SCENES LOOK AT BUNRAKU, A DRAMATIC ART FORM THAT COMBINES MASTERFUL PUPPETRY, SHAMISEN MUSIC, AND NARRATION, A TRADITION THAT HAS EVOLVED SINCE THE EARLY 17TH CENTURY. COMPLEMENTING THE EXHIBITION WERE LIVE BUNRAKU PERFORMANCES AND SPECIAL PROGRAMS FEATURING CONTEMPORARY ARTIST HIROSHI SUGIMOTO AND DR. HENRY SMITH, PROFESSOR EMERITUS OF JAPANESE HISTORY AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. AN ONLINE EXHIBITION GUIDE AND A 3D VIRTUAL TOUR PUBLISHED ON OUR WEBSITE. ACKY BRIGHT: STUDIO INFINITY SHOWCASED THE RISING STAR'S DISTINCTIVE KAWAKAKKOII ("CUTE AND COOL") STYLE OF ILLUSTRATION AND PRODUCT DESIGN. CONCEIVED AS ACKY BRIGHT'S DESIGN STUDIO, THE EXHIBITION INVITED VISITORS TO MEET THE ARTIST, WATCH HIS FREESTYLE "LIVE DRAWING, AND PARTICIPATE IN CREATING MANGA-STYLE MURALS. ACKY BRIGHT APPEARED ONSITE 16 TIMES, AND A 3D VIRTUAL TOUR WAS ALSO MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE. FALL GALLERY ATTENDANCE: 3,942 IN THE SPRING, KOTOBUKI: AUSPICIOUS CELEBRATIONS OF JAPANESE ART FROM NEW YORK PRIVATE COLLECTIONS (MARCH 13-MAY 11, 2025) MARKED A LANDMARK EXHIBITION CURATED BY DR. MURASE. IT EXPLORED THE ENDURING SYMBOLISM OF CELEBRATION IN JAPANESE ART THROUGH RARELY SEEN MASTERWORKS SPANNING THE 12TH TO 21ST CENTURIES. A 3D VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE EXHIBITION WAS PUBLISHED ON OUR WEBSITE. IN CELEBRATION OF ASIA WEEK NEW YORK 2025, THE JAPANESE ART SOCIETY OF AMERICA INVITED THE PUBLIC TO JOIN JASA MEMBERS FOR THE 2025 ANNUAL MEETING AND A SPECIAL LECTURE PRESENTED BY MATTHEW MCKELWAY, TAKEO AND ITSUKO ATSUMI PROFESSOR OF JAPANESE ART HISTORY, ART HISTORY & ARCHAEOLOGY, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY; 118 GUESTS ATTENDED. OTHER PROGRAMS INCLUDED 11 FORMAL GUIDED TOURS FOR GROUPS OF 10 TO 35 PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE EXHIBITION RUN, AS WELL AS EDUCATIONAL TOURS FOR A TOTAL OF 215 K-12 STUDENTS FROM NINE DIFFERENT SCHOOLS. SPRING GALLERY ATTENDANCE: 3,565
- $1.5 million spent. FOUNDED IN 1972 WITH JUST TWO CLASSES, THE LANGUAGE CENTER HAS EVOLVED INTO ONE OF THE LARGEST JAPANESE LANGUAGE INSTITUTIONS FOR ADULT LEARNERS IN THE UNITED STATES. TODAY, WE SERVE A VIBRANT COMMUNITY OF STUDENTS AGED 18 AND OLDER, MAINTAINING A REPUTATION FOR EXCELLENCE BUILT OVER FIVE DECADES. COMPREHENSIVE JAPANESE LANGUAGE EDUCATION IS OUR FLAGSHIP OFFERING, REPRESENTING APPROXIMATELY 95% OF OUR TOTAL ENROLLMENT. TO ACCOMMODATE DIVERSE SCHEDULES AND GOALS, WE PROVIDE 10-WEEK AND 5-WEEK COURSES ACROSS ALL PROFICIENCY LEVELS YEAR-ROUND. OUR SPECIALIZED CURRICULUM INCLUDES JLPT PREPARATION, DEDICATED KANJI STUDIES, AND VARIOUS ELECTIVE CLASSES TAILORED TO SPECIFIC INTERESTS. BEYOND CORE LANGUAGE CLASSES, WE OFFER A RICH ARRAY OF PROGRAMS AND CULTURAL WORKSHOPS INCLUDING JAPANESE CALLIGRAPHY, TEACHER TRAINING, AND ENGLISH INSTRUCTION FOR NATIVE JAPANESE SPEAKERS. STUDENTS CAN ALSO PARTICIPATE IN WEEKEND INTENSIVES AND SUPPLEMENTARY OFFERINGS SUCH AS: LANGUAGE EXCHANGES: INTERACTIVE SESSIONS FOR PEER-TO-PEER LEARNING. SKILLS WORKSHOPS: FOCUSED SESSIONS ON HIRAGANA, KATAKANA, KANJI, AND ONOMATOPOEIA. PRACTICAL TRAINING: BUSINESS ETIQUETTE WORKSHOPS (ALSO AVAILABLE FOR CORPORATE CLIENTS) AND "CRASH COURSES" FOR TRAVELERS. FLEXIBLE LEARNING AND GLOBAL REACH WE EMBRACE A MODERN, HYBRID EDUCATIONAL MODEL TO MEET GROWING DEMAND. APPROXIMATELY 55% OF OUR PROGRAMMING IS CONDUCTED ONLINE, ATTRACTING LEARNERS FROM ACROSS THE UNITED STATES AND ABROAD, WHILE OUR IN-PERSON ENROLLMENT CONTINUES TO RISE AS STUDENTS RETURN TO THE PHYSICAL CLASSROOM. REFLECTING THIS VERSATILITY, WE OFFERED A TOTAL OF 465 COURSES, WORKSHOPS, AND EVENTS ACROSS BOTH OUR IN-PERSON AND ONLINE PLATFORMS TO MORE THAN 6,000 PARTICIPANTS DURING FY25. WHILE THE LANGUAGE CENTER IS PRIMARILY FUNDED THROUGH STUDENT TUITION, WE ACTIVELY SEEK GRANTS AND ENDOWMENTS TO ENHANCE OUR EDUCATIONAL MISSION. THE CENTER ALSO SERVES AS A VITAL GATEWAY TO THE BROADER JAPAN SOCIETY COMMUNITY; BY OFFERING EXCLUSIVE TUITION DISCOUNTS TO MEMBERS, WE CONSISTENTLY DRIVE NEW MEMBERSHIPS AND LONG-TERM ENGAGEMENT. TOTAL FY25 REGISTERED STUDENTS: 6,018
- $1.4 million spent. SINCE THE INCEPTION OF THE JAPAN SOCIETY PERFORMING ARTS PROGRAM IN 1953, JAPAN SOCIETY HAS INTRODUCED OVER 1,000 PROGRAMS OF JAPAN'S FINEST PERFORMING ARTS TO AN EXTENSIVE AMERICAN AUDIENCE. THESE PROGRAMS RANGE ACROSS CUTTING EDGE THEATER, DANCE AND MUSIC AS WELL AS TRADITIONAL ARTS (SUCH AS NOH, KYOGEN, BUNRAKU AND KABUKI), WITH EACH OF THESE FOUR CATEGORIES REPRESENTED IN AT LEAST ONE PRODUCTION EVERY SEASON. IN OUR EFFORTS TO DEEPEN MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING AND BUILD CONNECTIONS BETWEEN JAPAN AND THE U.S. THROUGH CULTURE AND THE ARTS, COMMISSIONING NEW WORKS FROM NON-JAPANESE AND U.S.-BASED ARTISTS HAS ALSO BECOME A CORNERSTONE OF OUR PROGRAMMING, WITH AN AVERAGE OF ONE JAPAN SOCIETY-COMMISSIONED WORLD PREMIERE EACH YEAR. CURRENTLY, JSPA PRESENTS BETWEEN EIGHT TO TEN PRODUCTIONS A YEAR, IN ADDITION TO APPROXIMATELY TWO TO FOUR PUBLIC WORKSHOPS EACH SEASON. MANY OF JSPA'S MAIN PRODUCTIONS INCLUDE MULTIPLE PERFORMANCES A TYPICAL JSPA SEASON INCLUDES BETWEEN 25 TO 35 EVENTS AT JAPAN SOCIETY, WITH AN AVERAGE ATTENDANCE OF 4000-5000 PATRONS PER SEASON. TOTAL FY25 ATTENDANCE: 6,027
- $3.7 million spent. FILM, CULTURE AND COMMUNITY; BUSINESS AND POLICY FORUM; EDUCATION AND FAMILY; MEDIA AND MARKETING; MEMBERSHIP.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated November 6, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending June 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since November 1952.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated November 4, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.