A message of thanks from Japan Society to The Japan Foundation, on the 50th anniversary of The Japan Foundation Award

On October 2, 1973 in Tokyo, Japan Society was honored to receive The Japan Foundation Award, recognizing the organization for its outstanding contributions in promoting cultural exchange between Japan and the United States. Fifty years later, and 116 years strong since its founding in 1907, Japan Society continues its longstanding mission of connecting Japanese arts, culture, business, and society with audiences in New York City and around the world. Today, globalization, technological advances, and geopolitics make it imperative that the U.S. and Japan continue to build on their alliance of mutual support and understanding. To this end, we believe that the work Japan Society does is not only critical to its mission, but to the future of the world.

We are very grateful to The Japan Foundation and The Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership for their ongoing and past support of our programs and initiatives, which includes numerous gallery exhibitions, performances, and film series, as well as multi-year exchange programs. Our new U.S.-Japan Women Leaders Initiative, funded in part by a Japan Foundation grant for “Advancing Women and Girls in the Japan-U.S. Relationship,” is a platform for learning and empowerment, and for ongoing discussion and connection, aligning with Japan Society’s mission to convene important conversations on topics that bind our two countries together, and to forge deep connections between the U.S. and Japan for positive change. This winter, Japan Foundation support contributed toward the production of a newly commissioned chamber opera, note to a friend, for which Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang combined and reimagined three texts by iconic Japanese novelist Ryunosuke Akutagawa.

Grants for multi-year expert exchange programs such “Managing Disaster Recovery” (2009-2010) and “Resilient and Vibrant Rural Communities” (2017-2019) as well as the "U.S.-Japan Innovators Project" (2005-2009) have had significant impact on both the U.S. and Japan. Above all, drawing on past work with disaster relief and recovery organizations in Japan and the United States, the Innovators Network and Innovators connections played a crucial role in the selection of grant recipients for the Japan Earthquake Relief Fund (JERF), launched by Japan Society on March 12, 2011 to aid the survivors of the Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster. We couldn’t have done this without the support of The Japan Foundation, and we look forward to partnering with you for the next 50 years. Thank you.

Joshua W. Walker
President
Japan Society

(Original text in English)

Awards and Special Prizes: Recipients List 1973 - 1995