The predecessor of Amphibian Research Center, Institute of Amphibian Biology, was originally established in 1967 as part of the Department of Biology. Since then, the institute has made significant contribution in the field of taxonomy, ecology, genetics, physiology, evolutionary biology, and developmental biology, using a variety of anuran and urodele species. The institute has also contributed a lot to science education; approximately 700 people visit the institute to see living amphibians (more than 60 species, 30,000 animals) and hear lectures every year.

In 2016, Hiroshima University has reorganized this institute as Amphibian Research Center (ARC) for its further development. The ARC has divisions of bioresource science, development, and evolution/diversity. The objectives of the mission are to perform leading-edge studies on development, regeneration, evolution and genetic diseases, and to develop useful resources with the international collaborative network. The resource targets include Xenopus tropicalis, X. laevis and other amphibians useful for molecular biology studies. We are collecting, maintaining and distributing living resources including inbred wild type strains and genetically manipulated strains, and non-living resources such as nucleic acid materials and genome information. We are also performing dissemination activities, such as technical seminars for genome editing and transgenesis, to promote amphibian research.