The American Association of Teachers of Japanese is a non-profit, non-political organization of individuals and institutions seeking to promote the study of Japanese language, linguistics, literature, culture, and pedagogy, at all levels of instruction. AATJ fosters professional development, the promotion of Japanese and foreign language education, and the exchange of research, and seeks to coordinate its activities with related organizations to promote Japanese studies, including a network of state and regional affiliate organizations. AATJ is the product of the consolidation of two national organizations: the Association of Teachers of Japanese (ATJ), founded in 1963, and the National Council of Japanese Language Teachers (NCJLT), founded in 1992.

AATJ gives scholars the opportunity to exchange academic and professional views, results of research, and news of the field. It holds an annual conference in conjunction with the Association for Asian Studies and also cosponsors the major annual foreign language education conference, the annual meeting of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. It publishes Japanese Language and Literature twice each year and the AATJ Newsletter four times annually.