history

The ETS (Educational Testing Service) in the USAdeveloped the TOEIC test based on its precursor, the TOEFL test, following a request from Japans Keidanren(Japan Federation of Economic Organizations; 経団連) in conjunction with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry(MITI; 通商産業省; 通産省), which is today's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI; 経済産業省; 経産省). The Asahi Shimbun (朝日新聞) national daily's evening edition [1]interviewed Yasuo Kitaoka (北岡靖男) who was the central figure of the Japanese team that conceived the basic idea of the TOEIC test. In this sense the TOEIC test can be described as a US-Japanese crossbreed