Researched and launched by the Japan Foundation in collaboration with the Association for Corporate Support of the Arts, this online database contains 27 Japanese artist-in-residence programmes. Artist-in-residence programmes allow artists to undertake their creative activities within the context of a different country and culture. By allowing those artists to come into contact with other artists who have various cultural backgrounds, as well as local arts professionals and residents, artist-in-residence programmes have the potential to become hotspots of international cultural exchange. In 1995 the Japan Foundation undertook a large-scale investigation of roughly 150 artist-in-residence organisations and facilities in Japan and abroad. The result of that research was published in the Artist-in-Residence Research Report 93-95. At that time there were 11 artist-in-residence programmes in Japan. Since then new residency organisations have been established at a rapid pace and now there are approximately 30 programmes in operation around the country.   In October 2000 the Japan Foundation held a seminar called 'Artist-in-Residence: Possibilities for Networking' in co-operation with the Akiyoshidai International Art Village of the Yamaguchi Cultural Promotion Foundation. Nearly 40 residency programme organisers and planners, along with artists and representatives of foreign embassies, assembled in Akiyoshidai to exchange views on the state of Japan's residency programmes. Among other things, it was pointed out that there was insufficient sharing of information between organisers of programmes, and also that organisers were unable to cope with inquiries from overseas institutions or their representatives.   With these issues in mind, the Japan Foundation decided to commission the Association for Corporate Support of the Arts (Kigyo Mecenat Kyogikai) to investigate the current state of Japan's artist-in-residence organisations. It was decided that a report, in the form of a bilingual (Japanese and English) database, should be shown on the website of the Japan Foundation and that it should include an outline of each programme.