The Institute became an independent administrative agency in 2001 (Heisei 13). It left the building in Nishigaoka that it had used for many years in February 2005 (Heisei 17) to move to Tachikawa City, Tokyo, and it was re-established as the sixth organization of the Inter-University Research Institute Corporation "National Institutes for the Humanities" on October 1, 2009 (Heisei 21). Despite the big change in environment, however, we continue to pursue our unique research activities with energy and confidence.