The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation is a United Kingdom-based charity (registered no. 299955) established in 1988 to support closer links between Britain and Japan. It was founded with a benefaction from Daiwa Securities Co Ltd (now known as Daiwa Capital Markets, the investment banking arm of Japan's second largest brokerage Daiwa Securities Group).
Activities
The Foundation carries out its objective through the following activities:
making grants available to individuals, institutions and organisations to promote links between the UK and Japan in all fields of activity awarding scholarships to young British graduates to study Japan and its language organising a year-round programme of events to increase understanding of Japan in the UK
Location
The Foundation is based at Daiwa Foundation Japan House, a Georgian town house designed by Decimus Burton overlooking Regent's Park in central London. Daiwa Foundation Japan House acts as a centre for UK-Japan relations in Britain by offering a programme of seminars, exhibitions and book launches as well as meeting rooms for Japan-related activities.
Part of Daiwa Foundation Japan House, 13 Cornwall Terrace, was the home of Sir Arthur Lasenby Liberty (1843–1917), founder of Liberty & Co.
The Foundation is represented in Japan by its Tokyo Office, which provides local assistance to Daiwa Scholars and administers grant applications from Japan. It also handles general enquiries about the Foundation's programmes.
Daiwa Scholarships
Daiwa Scholarships
The Daiwa Scholarship is an educational programme that sends British graduates to Japan for 19 months. Daiwa Scholars spend 1 month studying Japanese language in the UK, 12 months studying Japanese language in Japan, 1 month on a homestay and 6 months on a work placement. Up to 8 Daiwa Scholarships are available each year.
The programme was established in 1991 and was inspired by the belief that the exchange of young people would foster mutual understanding and support the long-term relationship between Britain and Japan.
It is a core programme of the Foundation and through it the Foundation seeks to identify future leaders in their fields who will derive personal and professional benefit from obtaining an in-depth experience of Japan.
Since 1991, 190 graduates from over 50 universities and over 60 different subject areas have completed the programme.
Notable Daiwa Scholarship Alumni
Edmund de Waal OBE (Ceramicist/Author) Professor Hugo Dobson (Author/Head of East Asian Studies at Sheffield University) James Harding (journalist) (Co-founder & Editor of Tortoise Media, former Head of BBC News and Editor of The Times) Carl Randall (Artist)
Daiwa Scholarships in Japanese Studies
The Daiwa Scholarships in Japanese Studies is a programme established in April 2015 to fund postgraduate students of Japanese Studies on courses in either Japan or the UK. Applicants must be British citizens who are holders of a degree in Japanese Studies, defined as a course focusing primarily on the study of Japan and containing a substantial Japanese language component, and who are enrolled or enrolling in a Japanese Studies-related course in either Japan or the UK.
Grants
The Foundation provides funding through the following programmes:
Daiwa Foundation Small Grants
Daiwa Foundation Small Grants are available from £2,000–9,000 to individuals, societies, associations or other bodies in the UK or Japan to promote and support interaction between the two countries. They can cover all fields of activity, including educational and grassroots exchanges, research travel, the organisation of conferences, exhibitions, and other projects and events that fulfil this broad objective. New initiatives are especially encouraged.
Daiwa Foundation Awards
Daiwa Foundation Awards are available from £9,000–18,000 for collaborative projects that enable British and Japanese partners to work together, preferably within the context of an institutional relationship. Projects in academic, scientific, professional, cultural and educational fields are eligible.
Daiwa Adrian Prizes
Every three years until 2016, the Foundation made prizes available in recognition of significant scientific collaboration between Japanese and British research teams. The Daiwa Adrian Prizes have since been discontinued.