Deadline: December 02, 2025
The Japan Foundation invites overseas publishers to apply for partial financial support designed to assist in translating and publishing works originally written in Japanese, fostering cross-cultural understanding through the promotion of Japanese literature.
The focus of the program includes supporting translation and publication projects of works written in Japanese and already published in Japan, fostering better understanding of Japanese culture by encouraging overseas publishers to translate and publish Japanese works, and covering part of the translation and publishing costs such as paper, typesetting, platemaking, printing, and binding.
The program supports publishing companies outside Japan in translating and publishing Japanese literary works, including fiction and nonfiction in humanities and social sciences. Eligible projects must meet several conditions: translated works must be published between April 1, 2026, and February 28, 2027, or applicants may apply for translation fee support with publication within two years of translation completion. The original Japanese work must already be published, and translations are generally required to be from original works. In some cases, translation from a previous edition may be permitted. Contracts for translation rights and between translator and publisher must be in place at application, along with a sample draft translation. The project plan must realistically allow completion of the translation, and projects must not be used for religious or political purposes. The program also accepts grant applications for e-book publications but excludes works originally written in languages other than Japanese, reprints, periodicals, exhibition catalogs, travel brochures, language dictionaries, Japanese language teaching materials, and works only for donation purposes or those that are unlikely to be widely distributed.
The grant covers part of the costs paid from April 1, 2026, to February 28, 2027, including translation fees paid to translators and publication costs such as paper, typesetting, printing, and binding paid to companies. Contracts and cost estimates must be submitted with the application, and receipts will be required after publication before grant payment. The grant excludes editing, rights acquisition, copyright clearance, proofreading, and other in-house expenses and cannot cover expenses funded by other organizations. Payments will be made after completion of translation and/or publication.
Selection is conducted after expert consultation, with priority given to works recommended in specific Japan Foundation selections, those expected to have wide social influence, and works by authors not previously translated in the applicant’s country or rare translation languages. The grant amount is determined by the Japan Foundation based on the project plan. For the fiscal year 2025, 82 out of 124 applications received assistance, with an average grant amount of approximately JPY 489,000.
Applications must be submitted through the online portal by 1 p.m. on December 2, 2025 (Japan Standard Time), and results are notified in late April 2026.
For more information, visit Japan Foundation.
