The Activities of the Japan Foundation

Dialogue: Japanese Studies and Intellectual Exchange
Japanese Studies Overseas

To consolidate the foundation of Japanese studies around the world, and to support its specialists, the Japan Foundation provides comprehensive support to core institutions in different countries/regions. The support will be extended mainly to international conferences, staff expansion, library acquisitions and study tours to Japan. We also work to facilitate further development of Japanese studies by strengthening cross-border scholarly networks.

Winter Institute 2019

The Winter Institute was held in December 2019, gathering Japanese Studies researchers from Japan, the United States and Southeast Asia, in order to strengthen the researcher network between these three regions. A total of 24 young researchers who participated in the former Summer Institutes, which took place every summer until 2018, joined the program in Japan. The Winter Institute also invited some U.S. lecturers who have been working to strengthen cooperation with Southeast Asia. There were lively discussions about international career development and sustainable cooperation among the three regions.

East Asian Consortium of Japanese Studies

The 4th International Conference of the East Asian Consortium of Japanese Studies, East Asia's first network of Japan researchers, was held in Taiwan. The annual conference, which has been held in Korea, China and Japan previously, came to the fourth and final host and recorded the biggest number of panels and participants.

Japanese Studies Fellowship
Mahmoud Al-Qaysi
(Professor at the College of Arts of the University of Baghdad)

Professor Al-Qaysi, one of the few Fellows ever invited from Iraq, has received the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette in 2019 for his commitment to building the foundation of Japanese Studies in Iraq. He has received the Japan Foundation Fellowship several times to conduct researches in Japan, has been mentoring younger Iraqi researchers as well as organizing Japanese language courses at the University of Baghdad, which led to the opening of a Japanese Language Lab at the university in 2019. He is indispensable in the development of Japanese studies and Japanese-language education in Iraq.

Support for Japanese Studies Organizations
Arizona State University (ASU) (U.S.)

At Arizona State University, one the largest universities in the United States by enrollment, Assistant Professor Robert Tuck was hired into a tenure-track line, a position established with the support of the Japan Foundation. This has made it possible to develop new courses on Japan at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Our support, which also includes assistance for visiting lecturerships, library acquisitions and research trips to Japan, has prompted the university to approve yet another tenure-track position in the program. The new hires allowed the suspended Master's Program to restart.