Japan International Christian University Foundation, Inc. Records

While these records primarily document the operations and policies of the Japan International Christian University Foundation, they also include documents generated by or descriptive of the International Christian University itself. The record group provides valuable evidence about the university as well as the cooperation between Japanese and American Christians that led to its creation and success. The record group's thorough documentation of a church-related non-profit support agency is also of interest, particularly from the standpoint of the strong role of women in its work.

Series I provides the official definition of the Foundation, its policies, and programs, including legal documents and full sets of minutes for the various administrative and program entities within the Foundation.

Series II includes correspondence, proposals, reports, and other records documenting the formation and development of the Foundation, and its relationships with the ICU. An initial section of chronologically arranged documentation is followed by files arranged by administrative and program entities, and by individual names. The individual files represent officers and leaders of the Foundation, as well as of the ICU itself. Reports of the ICU Presidents are included in their individual files. Information about the decision to close the Foundation office in New York is available in the files for Kunio Oguchi and Philippa Hughes.

As is the case with many archives of organizations, there is considerable overlap among files and series. For example, documentation of the relationship between the Foundation and the ICU is available primarily in the historical material of Series II and the records of meetings and consultations in Series III, but can also be found within the individual files of Foundation and ICU leaders. It should also be noted that the extensive input of the executive directors of the Foundation, particularly Ruth Miller and Betty Gray, may not be immediately apparent from the finding aid. Suffice it to say that all these files were in some sense those of the executive directors of the Foundation.

The first section of Series III focuses on meetings and consultations related to the evolving relationship between the Foundation and the ICU. The remainder of the Series documents events and programs sponsored by the Foundation to provide publicity and financial support for the ICU. These events and programs, of course, were organized by the various committees and individuals of the Foundation, so there is overlap of documentation between Series I, II, and III.

The financial and fundraising records of Series IV are extensive because a major role of the Foundation was to provide financial support for the ICU. Financial documentation is also available in the Finance Committee minutes of Series I and in the individual files of financial officers in Series II.

The publications of Series V include newsletters, radio scripts, and brochures designed to engender support of the Foundation and the ICU. Copies of several articles about the ICU that appeared in church-related periodicals provide a good overview of the origins and philosophy of the university. The photographs in this series are in addition to those filed amidst the documentation of events and programs in Series III.

The records found in Series V are a rather eclectic mixture of documentation of the ICU campus. These items collected and retained by the Foundation office in New York undoubtedly represent a small sample of similar documentation available in the archives of the ICU in Japan.

The last series in an Addendum added to the collection in 2012.