In the latter part of the Meiji Era, from the end of the 19th Century to the beginning of the 20th Century, increasing numbers of foreign students came to Japan. Until the Second World War, the majority of students came from China. In the 1930s, there was an increase in the number of students from Southeast Asia and in 1935, the International Students Institute (国際学友会) was established. This was an extragovernmental organization of the Cultural Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, set up to support these students. This article presents the basic materials for an historical exploration of the International Students Institute. Thirty materials related to Southeast Asia were chosen from “Documents on the International Students Institute in the Showa Era before WWII,” in the Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. These materials were divided in three periods: 1. The Institute in the early period (1935-39) 2. The Institute operated as a foundation (1940-42) 3. The Ministry of Greater East Asia and the Institute (1943-45)
