International Protocol
Accreditation Association
We examine and certify professional competence in international protocol
Setting a global standard for international protocol through graded examination
What we certify
Six disciplines, each examined across six grades, from Third Grade to Master. Every examination may be taken in Japanese or in English, and the language of examination is recorded on the certificate.
We do not set separate papers for separate grades. All candidates in a discipline sit the same examination, and the grade awarded follows from the marks obtained.
International Social Protocol
International Business Protocol
International Diplomatic Protocol
Japanese Social Protocol
Japanese Business Protocol
Japanese Diplomatic Protocol
International Protocol Specialist
Bilingual Protocol Specialist
For those who teach Japanese protocol to an international audience
An institution that instructs cannot impartially assess, and so this association examines only. Candidates are received without regard to where they have studied — independently, at any school, or with us in mind from the first.
Why this association exists
Anyone who works across borders knows the moment: a room where the rules are unspoken, and getting them wrong costs more than embarrassment. Protocol is the discipline that governs those rooms.
Until now, protocol has been spoken of without a common standard to carry it across borders. The discipline has largely been treated as though one civilisation set the measure for all, and what recognition existed went no further than a course and its certificate.
Yet as languages have their international examinations, so protocol too requires one. It was from this conviction that IPAA was founded — to examine competence in international protocol by graded examination, and to certify it against a standard that holds across borders. That is the role of this association.
The protocol we certify takes no one nation’s practice as its measure. It holds the customs of every culture as equal in standing, and what we assess is the judgement to move well between them, graded by level. Because an institution that instructs cannot impartially assess, we examine only, and never teach. Candidates are received without regard to where they have studied.
For that reason, the accreditation earned here is not bound to the place of study. It is an independent, common measure of competence in international protocol — one that travels with you across borders.
Membership
Certification admits you to the association. Members come from within Japan and from countries across the world, of many nationalities and many fields of work.
Those who have passed an examination of this association, at any grade.
Those trained elsewhere in protocol or etiquette who have also passed our examination.
Corporations, universities, embassies and other institutions in sympathy with our purpose.
Diplomats and others of international distinction, invited by the association.
What membership brings
Status
- Certificate of accredited membership
- A dedicated profile page on this site, with photograph and record of activity
- Contribution to the official journal, subject to approval
- The designation IPAA Accredited Member for cards and professional profiles
Community
- Members’ newsletter
- Members’ study meetings
- Annual members’ gathering
- Exchange among members
Advancement
- Eligibility for specialist accreditation, reserved to members
- Advancement to certified lecturer
- Preferential entry to higher grades
The world at the centre
The word was born in ancient Greece. Protokollon named the first leaf glued to the head of a scroll — the sheet that attested to what followed, and held the whole together.
In time it came to mean the ceremony of diplomacy: the cord that binds nation to nation, and person to person, in mutual regard. Not to divide, but to join.
At the centre of our crest stands the globe. What this association answers to is not one nation, but the world entire.
The five stars above mark the grades of accreditation, from the first steps to the standing of a specialist. The laurel has signified merit since antiquity, and is granted to those who have passed examination.
Every element sits upon the same circle, at equal distance from the centre and of equal weight. No culture, and no candidate, stands closer to this association than another.
One passes the examination, becomes a member, and in time stands among those who teach. One person’s path becomes the doorway for the next.
Japan to the world
The world to Japan
The earth as one
Preparation for these qualifications may be undertaken at ICPA, the International Protocol Academy.
Share what your culture knows
Build a more graceful world with us
The world has never been more open. What this moment asks is not that we dissolve the boundaries between cultures, but that each keep its own outline — and that we learn across them, with respect.