ICHIKAWA Fusae was instrumental in establishing the New Women's Association (1919) and the Women's Suffrage League of Japan (1924), and established herself as one of the leaders of women suffrage movement. Within the movement, people felt the need to build a "women's center" but it had to wait until 1946 to make that dream come true. Japanese women gained political franchise (the right to vote in public, political elections and the right to stand for election) in 1945 after the Second World War. To commemorate this historic achievement, the first wooden building was built for the purpose of becoming the "women's center" on the land where Fusen Kaikan building now stands (photo), to which ICHIKAWA Fusae contributed in many, many ways.

Since then, this women's center, which eventually became ICHIKAWA Fusae Center for Women and Governance (the Center), has been the locus for Japanese women to exercise their political rights through engaging in various activities and movements. It has been the policy since its conception that the Center is non-partisan and focuses on women's political rights. These activities have been crucial in proposing and developing many projects relevant to women's participation in politics on various scales.

The 1946 wooden building was replaced with a four-storeyed reinforced-concrete building (657m2) in 1962 when the movement itself was incorporated as Fusen Kaikan, with ICHIKAWA Fusae as the founder and the first chairperson of the board of directors. Since then, the Center believes that its mission is to achieve citizen-centered policy-decisions through truly democratic processes. The Center has provided political education, disseminated relevant information, supported financially non-governmental organizations, promoted international exchanges and established library for preservation of historical materials relevant to women's suffrage movement. These activities are meant to promote women's greater participation in the political sphere.

In 1981, ICHIKAWA Fusae passed away at the age of 87. In 1983, to commemorate her and as a tribute to her life and her tireless activities on behalf of women's political rights, the Center was renamed as ICHIKAWA Fusae Memorial Association and expanded the building(826m2) adding the ICHIKAWA Fusae memorial exhibition room. The memorial exhibition, open to the public, is designed to inform later generations of the history of the women's suffrage movement in Japan and has received many domestic and foreign visitors.

In 2010, the Association was reorganized and incorporated as non-profit organization, and renamed as the Center but the building retains the familiar name, "Fusen Kaikan."

The Center has been actively engaged in many activities to accomplish its mission: to establish equal and peaceful society where women participate and become responsible to democratic governance, placing emphasis on citizen-centered policy-decisions for equality and peace. For this, the Center provides comprehensive resources to empower women in political sphere and to support women’s collaboration domestically as well as internationally.

Today, the Center provides political education, disseminates relevant information, supports non-governmental organizations financially, encourages and promotes international exchanges and has established library for preservation and easy access to historical materials relevant to women’s suffrage movement, and helps researchers and others domestically and internationally with available information. The Center also provides activity hub for the National Women’s Committee of the United Nations NGOs, the International Women’s Year Liaison Group and other women’s organizations.