The 1997 season of the Volleyball World Grand Prix was the fifth edition of the competition. It started on August 8th and ended on August 31st. Russia won the title for the first time.
Eight teams competed in the preliminary round. In the first two weeks, two tournaments with four teams took place in parallel; in the third week there was another tournament. The three best teams in the overall ranking qualified alongside hosts Japan for the final round, which was played according to the “everyone against everyone” mode.