Japan Exhibition Association (JEXA) was Founded in 1967, the Japan Exhibition Association celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2017. Originally titled “the Harumi Trade Center Users’ Meeting”, or “Harumi Council” for short, it was founded by a group of exhibition organizers who used the Harumi Fairgrounds for their exhibitions. The Council consisted of 10 organizations, including the Japan Management Association, Nippon Office Management Association, Japan Motor Industrial Federation (later merged with the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association), Nippon Omni-Management Association, Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, Ltd., The Nihon Kogyo Shimbun Co., Ltd., Japan Packaging Institute, and Japan Electronics Association. The purpose of founding the Council was to facilitate negotiations with the Tokyo International Trade Fair Commission and Tokyo International Trade Center Corp. that owned the Harumi Fairgrounds on usage fees and easy use of the venue.