Message in Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Japan Foundation Awards

Congratulations on the 50th anniversary of the Japan Foundation Awards.

In the midst of the period of rapid economic growth in Japan in the 1960s under the slogan, “Catch Up and Overtake!,” the Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE) started its activities mainly on Japan-U.S. relations as a private organization. What the Japanese needed in the 1970s, after achieving their postwar reconstruction and embarking into the international community anew, in addition to economic growth, was to build a network and engage in exchange activities on a people-to-people basis in order to connect Japan with the world, and it is our understanding that the Japan Foundation was established as an organization to play a driving role in that endeavor.

At the time, JCIE founder, Yamamoto Tadashi, was in discussions with Director General Kagawa Takaaki, from the Bureau for Cultural Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who was devoted to the creation of the Japan Foundation, Saiki Senkuro, the first Executive Director, and Kusuda Minoru, Auditor, in search of the ideal form of such an organization, and during the course of this consultation, the JCIE was approved as an incorporated foundation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1973. Though involved in Japan-U.S. relations and educational exchange from the mid-1960s, the young organization was still not well known within society, and I recall feeling deeply moved and having great gratitude at the honor being selected for the Japan Foundation Special Prize in only the second year after our founding.

It was very encouraging to receive this acceptance and recognition for the JCIE, a private organization, at a time when it was believed that diplomacy was exclusively the domain of the government and not the private sector. At the introduction to the organization’s business report published the year after the award, President Yamamoto wrote, "It goes without saying that it is essential for Japan, having acquired strong international influence as an economic powerhouse and having received wide acknowledgment around the world, to engage in dialogue with the world, deepen our mutual understanding, and promote cooperation for mutual benefit, not only for the benefit of Japan, but for the healthy development of the global community. However, many obstacles remain with respect to the state of communication with each nation, the basis of such efforts, including Japan’s social and cultural background. . . . The Japan Center for International Exchanged has carried out our operations in the hope that we serve as a catalyst, substructure, and lubricant for promoting external communications, and under the belief that this is our mission.” Yamamoto Tadashi would also go on to win the Special Prize as an individual in 1999. This was a great honor for him, as someone who had striven and worked together on the same path of international exchange in numerous ways since the establishment of the Japan Foundation, such as the founding of the Center for Global Partnership, for which he was extremely grateful.

During the over 50 years since our establishment, JCIE has continued to engage in Japan-U.S. parliamentary exchange and international policy dialogue, while leveraging the human and organizational networks developed through those activities to organically integrate a diversity of themes, including, in recent years, global health, cooperation among aging societies in Asia, gender issues, multiculturalism, the migration of peoples, and governance of democracy. The trust and friendship born of dialogue and exchange in its various forms serve as a lubricating medium in situations where economic and political interests collide, and are essential for global peace, and we believe our mission is to ceaselessly work to achieve that trust and friendship.

The words, “cultivating friendship and ties between Japan and the world” adorn the top page of the Japan Foundation website. I believe that the steady and continuous efforts of those involved in cultural and international exchange have nurtured and strengthened friendship and trust with other countries, especially among citizens, and that these form the foundation and the very core of Japanese diplomacy that shall be carried on into the future. My hope is that this award shall continue to encourage such exchanges, whether large or small in scale, and that it will continue to grow for the next 50 years.

KATSUMATA Hideko
Executive Director & COO,
Japan Center for International Exchange

(Original text in Japanese)

Awards and Special Prizes: Recipients List 1973 - 1995