The Hanoi office was established in March 2008 as the Japan Foundation Center for Cultural Exchange in Vietnam, when the Vietnam-Japan Cultural Forum was held in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh with participation from high-ranking officials and various researchers, artists and private sectors from both countries.
 
Since its establishment, the Center has been contributing the Japanese language education in Vietnam, especially at secondary education as the first priority, and extended to other cultural field to promote people-to-people exchange in grass root to intellectual level between Vietnam and Japan, as well as among the people in the regional and global perspective.