The Center places primary emphasis on team research projects which are inter-disciplinary in approach and international in organization. The cooperation of specialists from a wide variety of fields fosters a comprehensive point of view, while the coming together of Japanese scholars with those from a variety of other cultural traditions encourages a spirit of lively intellectual dialogue. The Center aims at promoting a new and more international type of research activity, involving not only the exchange of individual research findings but also joint international involvement in the research process itself.

Five "research spheres" (kenkyu-iki) and a variety of "research foci" (kenkyu-jiku) form a conceptual framework for the range and type of research which the Center seeks to promote. The "research spheres" and "research foci," as described below, are intended as a conceptual matrix for the comprehensive study of Japanese culture, thus providing a system of coordinates by which each separate research project is located in relationship to other projects and to the entire field of Japanese studies.

The five "research spheres" are intended to provide a comprehensive framework for conceptualizing Japanese studies. In the first two research spheres, Japanese culture is treated in terms of its internal organization. The first research sphere (Cultural Dynamics) treats Japan within a chronological framework, while the second research sphere (Structures of Culture) deals with structural elements relatively independent of change through time.

The third and fourth research spheres, on the other hand, treat Japan as one cultural entity among many in the world. The third research sphere (Comparison of Cultures) focuses on comparing Japan with other cultures, while the fourth research sphere (Cultural Relations) deals with Japan's actual historical and contemporary interactions with other cultures.

Finally, the fifth research sphere (Cultural Information) deals with the state of the field of Japanese studies itself . This research sphere will be concerned with the results of research efforts in all of the other research spheres, and is intended to serve as a channel of communication between research activities and research cooperation. The "research foci" are categories within each of the five research spheres, and serve to indicate more precisely the specific orientation of each research project.