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The United States-Japan Foundation (USJF) has published a new report titled "Japan Social Investment Intermediary Study," identifying strategic pathways to promote ecosystem transformation and strengthen the impact investment market in Japan. Led by Social Finance with support from Social Value Japan, the study examines existing barriers, such as low trust between actors and limited deal pipelines, and offers actionable recommendations for USJF to drive systemic change. The report is available in English and Japanese.
The report highlights that while Japan’s impact investment market is expanding, it has yet to realize its full potential due to fragmented partnerships and a lack of investable models. To address these challenges, the study recommends that USJF pilot an "Impact Accelerator," a structured multi-year program designed to support high-potential NPOs in trialing innovative financial instruments. This approach aims to build a credible pipeline of organizations capable of absorbing impact-first capital, ultimately shifting norms around capital deployment in Japan. The report reflects recommendations for the Foundation, rather than prescribing actions for the entire social sector.
USJF has recently been exploring ways to strengthen the ecosystem for social finance in Japan. As part of this effort, USJF launched an experimental initiative last year through the Peace Winds / Youth Platform project. Under this initiative, USJF provided ¥450 million ($2.8 million) in interest-free loans to five nonprofit organizations, including Peace Winds Japan. These loans were specifically intended to support fundraising campaigns, with the expectation that the loans would be repaid from the proceeds. The program was designed in recognition that once nonprofit organizations reach a certain level of scale, loans, alongside traditional grants, can become an effective tool for enabling further scaling. Because loans of this scale are still relatively uncommon for Japanese nonprofits, the initiative was also intended to serve as an early example of how repayable capital might support the expansion of high-impact organizations. One of the goals in commissioning this report was therefore to help identify potential pathways for expanding on this initial step and strengthening the broader social finance ecosystem in Japan.
The study was authored by a collaborative team of experts: Associate Takenaka Akira, Director Cooper Renfro, and International Director Jane Newman of Social Finance, as well as Executive Director Ito Ken of Social Value Japan. Social Finance is a purpose-driven nonprofit that drives change with finance, data, and design to address some of society's toughest challenges. Social Value Japan is a nonprofit organization that aims to improve social productivity in Japan and the world by promoting research, education, and practice of quantitative evaluation methods for social impacts, and to solve social issues.
USJF is also planning to hold a series of private roundtable discussions joined by experts in this area to explore the next steps emerging from this report. If you have an interest in this area and would like to contribute to strengthening social finance in Japan, please send an email to info@us-jf.org.
This paper is part of the USJF Research series, launched to share research commissioned by the Foundation in pursuit of new ideas, evidence, and perspectives on the forces shaping U.S.-Japan relations. Each paper is independently developed and shared to stimulate exchange and invite reflection.
