The Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize has been awarded every year since 1996. It promotes books that will contribute to greater understanding and cooperation among the peoples and nations of the Pacific Rim. The Prize is worth US$30,000. Half of the cash award is given to the author of the winning fiction title, and half is given to the author of the winning nonfiction title.

Two panels of five judges award the prize to books that, in their opinion, are outstanding works that fulfil the goal of the award. The judges choose the winners from shortlists of five finalists in each category from the over 300 books submitted for the prize each year. In addition, lists of notable books in the fiction and nonfiction categories are also drawn from the judging process. Thus, each year, the prize recognizes, celebrates and promotes a huge variety of worthwhile books, together with their authors and publishers.

Prior to 1999 only one annual award was made. From 1999 to the present awards have been  made for both Fiction and Nonfiction.