As shared-use research institutes for all universities in each research field, the Inter-University Research Institutes offer large-scale, state-of-the-art equipment, massive quantities of academic data, and valuable materials and analytical methods that are difficult to prepare and maintain at individual universities to scholars nationwide free of charge, in order to promote collaborative research in Japan beyond the boundaries of different universities. Since their establishment in 1974, 17 organisations have been created to date, due to strong requests received from the researcher community regarding their need to achieve breakthrough developments in each academic field, as well as the reorganisation of the attached research institutes of the national universities. Members of the research community also participate in the management of each institute, and as a core base for each academic field, joint research is conducted to collect the knowledge of researchers nationwide. Also, their role is to consolidate the research community substantively and to represent Japan institutionally in international activities