The Japan Foundation Award 50th Anniversary Messages from Previous Awardees - The European Association for Japanese Studies

1975 The Japan Foundation Special Prize
The European Association for Japanese Studies
[Europe]
Congratulatory letter by the EAJS for the 50th anniversary of the Japan Foundation Award
The European Association for Japanese Studies is delighted to extend its warmest congratulations to the Japan Foundation on the 50th anniversary of the Japan Foundation Awards. Since 1973, the Japan Foundation has presented the Japan Foundation Awards to individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to promoting international mutual understanding and friendship between Japan and other countries through academic, artistic and other cultural pursuits.


Our Association was honored with the Special Prize in 1975, just two years after the inauguration of the Japan Foundation Award and also two years after the foundation of the European Association for Japanese Studies. In 1973, the EAJS was founded with two major goals in mind: first, to create an integrated European research area in Japanese Studies and to thus build bridges between the existing national research communities in the field, to encourage joint research endeavors across European countries and with Japan, to link national associations of Japanese Studies with similar communities in Europe and beyond, and to provide the next generation of scholars in Japanese Studies with the opportunity to form border-crossing cohorts in Europe and also with Japan. The second goal was a political one: to promote the study of Japan at universities all over Europe and to support European universities and research institutions in building Japan-related study programs.
The Special Prize awarded by the Japan Foundation in 1975 was a wonderful opportunity for the newly established European Association for Japanese Studies. Being awarded the Special Prize provided the EAJS with a high level of visibility, both in Japan and in Europe. It bolstered the efforts to create a European community in Japanese Studies, and it placed the EAJS on the map of other associations for Japanese Studies in the world. We can thus say that the recognition by the Japan Foundation and the Special Prize gave significant momentum to the EAJS and helped the organization to establish links also to other Japan-related research communities, for example in the United States.
In the following decades, and also thanks to the invaluable support by the Japan Foundation, the European Association for Japanese Studies grew to become the largest scholarly organization in the world devoted to the study of Japan. Today, the EAJS counts more than 1.400 members from 54 countries. EAJS International Conferences, held every three years at a university in Europe, regularly attract more than 1000 participants from all over Europe and all areas of Japanese Studies. These cover a wide range of disciplines and subject areas related to Japan, from linguistics and literature to history and art, social sciences, economics, and law.
The European Association for Japanese Studies is highly grateful to the Japan Foundation for its long-term commitment to the support of EAJS activities such as conferences and workshops, but also for its organizational support. The EAJS also acknowledges the tremendous support of the Japan Foundation for Japanese Studies in Europe, especially in areas where Japanese Studies are still growing. Without the strong support by the Japan Foundation headquarters in Tokyo and the European regional offices in Budapest, Cologne, London, Madrid, Paris and Rome, Japanese Studies in Europe would not be such a striving field of research and teaching. The dedication of the Japan Foundation to provide funding for new programs in Japanese Studies, for conferences and workshops, and its energy in stimulating new programs and supporting individual careers provide a strong and much needed resource for Japanese Studies in Europe and beyond. The Japan Foundation Awards and Special Prizes highlight the achievements of individuals and institutions in this area, and they also give visibility to the strong networks and collaborations that have been established between Japan and Europe. These networks are of high political, economic, and cultural value, especially in times of crisis.
We therefore send our warmest congratulations to the Japan Foundation on the anniversary of the Japan Foundation Award and wish the Japan Foundation all the best so that it can continue its highly important work also in the future!
On behalf of the EAJS Council,
Andreas Niehaus, EAJS President
and
Verena Blechinger-Talcott, Immediate Past President
The European Association for Japanese Studies
(Original text in English)
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