The World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI) was inaugurated in 2007 by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) with a mission of establishing “globally visible research centers” within Japan, where researchers on the frontline of science gather from all over the world. WPI centers are required to fulfill the following criteria of “advancing cutting-edge research,” “creating interdisciplinary domains,” “establishing international research environments,” and “reforming research organizations.” ELSI was selected to be a member institution of this prestigious initiative in 2012.