What's New

2025年10月24日: We posted an interview with Ms. Ayako Smethurst, Executive Director of Kizuna Across Cultures (KAC), a U.S.-based non-profit organization, on Japan-Insights. Ms. Smethurst discussed their Global Classmates program, an online cultural and language exchange platform that connects high school students in Japan and the United States.

2025年10月1日: TIFO started receiving applications for grants for FY2026.

2025年9月30日: We posted an interview with Professor Wolfman Manzenreiter, Department of East Asian Studies, University of Vienna, on Japan-Insights. Dr. Manzenreiter discussed the university’s u:japan initiative, hybrid forums for scholarly dialogue and exchange in the field of Japan Studies.

2025年8月1日: Notice on the summer holidays
Our office will be closed from August 13 (Wed.) through August 15 (Fri.) for the summer holidays in Japan.
Your understanding will be appreciated.

2025年7月10日: Notice of Relocation of Toshiba International Foundation’s Office

2025年4月21日: Toshiba Youth Club Asia Vol.9, an exchange program for ASEAN and Japanese high school students, was held from December 21 to 28, 2024.

2025年4月21日: Notice on the Golden Week holidays
Our office will be closed from April 29 (Tue.) through May 6 (Tue.) for the Golden Week holidays in Japan.
Your understanding will be appreciated.

2025年3月19日: We posted an interview with Ms. Anna Jackson, Keeper of the Asia Department at the Victoria & Albert Museum of London on Japan-Insights. Ms. Jackson talked about the museum’s recent initiatives and future projects to present Japan’s cultural creativity in fresh and relevant ways.

2025年1月15日: We posted an interview with Professor Jung Byeong Ho, the Director of the Global Institute for Japanese Studies at Korea University, on Japan-Insights, about the Institute’s initiatives to enhance collaboration among researchers around Asia and efforts to keep paces in both the academic landscape and society at large.

2024年12月20日: Notice on the Winter Holidays
Our office will be closed from December 28 (Sat.) through January 5 (Sun.) for the winter holidays in Japan.
Your understanding will be appreciated.

2024年12月1日: The application for FY2025 grant was closed at the end of November, 2024.

2024年10月1日: TIFO started receiving applications for grants for FY2025.

2024年8月27日: TIFO’s brochure for 2024 was uploaded.

2024年8月20日: We posted an interview with Dr. Wan Noor Faaziah Wan Omar, Senior Lecturer, Industrial Design Department, College of Creative Arts, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Kedah Campus about their field trip to Japan to learn a traditional Japanese woodworking technique, Moku-Zogan.

2024年8月6日: Notice on the summer holidays
Our office will be closed from August 13 (Tue.) through August 15 (Thu.) for the summer holidays in Japan.
Your understanding will be appreciated.

2024年5月31日: Toshiba Youth Club Asia Vol. 8, an exchange program for ASEAN and Japanese high school students, was held face-to-face for the first time in four years from March 23 to 30, 2024.

2024年4月22日: Notice on the Golden Week holidays
Our office will be closed from April 27 (Sat.) through May 6 (Mon.) for the Golden Week holidays in Japan.
Your understanding will be appreciated.

2023年12月27日: Notice on the Winter Holidays
Our office will be closed from December 29 (Fri.) through January 4 (Thu.) for the winter holidays in Japan.
Your understanding will be appreciated.

2023年12月15日: We posted an interview with Dr. Sébastien Lechevalier, Founding President, Fondation France-Japon (FFJ) for Japan-Insights. Dr. Lechevalier explained the multidisciplinary initiative, "INNOVCARE," focused on care-led innovation in eldercare.

2023年12月1日: The application for FY2024 grant was closed at the end of November, 2023.

2023年10月17日: We posted an interview with Dr. Le Thi Thu Giang, Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, Vietnam National University Hanoi for Japan-Insights. Professor Gian discussed VNU’s new initiatives to enhance Japan Studies with a global focus.

2023年10月1日: TIFO started receiving applications for grants for FY2024.

2023年8月29日: TIFO’s brochure for 2023 was uploaded.

2023年8月10日: We posted an interview with Dr. Verena Blechinger-Talcott, President of European Association for the Japanese Studies (EAJS) on Japan-Insights. Professor Blechinger-Talcott spoke about the globalization of Japan Studies, and how support of early-career scholars has proven to be pivotal in fostering comparative perspectives and strengthening intra-Asian and transnational connections.

2023年8月7日: Notice on the summer holidays
Our office will be closed from August 11 (Fri.) through August 16 (Wed.) for the summer holidays in Japan.
Your understanding will be appreciated.

2023年5月8日: Toshiba Youth Club Asia Vol. 7 for ASEAN and Japanese high school students was held online from December 2022 to March 2023.

2023年4月27日: An interview with Dr. Tara McGowan, executive director of the North American Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources (NCC), about their work to share information resources to support Japanese studies, was posted on Japan-Insights.

2023年4月21日: Notice on the Golden Week holidays
Our office will be closed from April 29 (Sat.) through May 7 (Sun.) for the Golden Week holidays in Japan.
Your understanding will be appreciated.

2023年3月17日: An interview with Dr. Barbara Ruch, Director of Japanese Cultural Heritage Initiatives, Columbia University, about their longstanding commitment to traditional Japanese music (hogaku, gagaku) was posted on Japan-Insights.

2023年2月3日: The Japan-Insights has been completely renewed and launched. In addition to essays contributed by Japan specialists, newly launched STORY series introduces, through interviews, the background of the projects supported by the foundation and the thoughts of the project managers.

2022年12月22日: Notice on the Winter Holidays
Our office will be closed from December 29 (Thu.) through January 4 (Wed.) for the winter holidays in Japan.
Your understanding will be appreciated.

2022年12月1日: The application for FY2023 grant was closed at the end of November, 2022.

2022年10月7日: TIFO’s brochure for 2022 was uploaded.

2022年10月1日: TIFO started receiving applications for grants for FY2023.

2022年8月10日: Notice on the summer holidays
Our office will be closed from August 11 (Thurs.) through August 15 (Mon.) for the summer holidays in Japan.
Your understanding will be appreciated.

2022年7月5日: A special program consisting of (1) on-line alumni reunion; (2) special webinars, featuring young Japanese innovators; and (3) the TYCA alumni summit was held for alumni of Toshiba Youth Club Asia for the past 6 years.

2022年5月10日: Ayumi Shimonoto, a koto player in the Yamada school, has produced "Sōkyoku x Gagaku: The Japanese Classics and Contemporary," a concert video that aims to deepen understanding of sōkyoku—compositions for the koto—and to encourage recognition of Japanese traditional music through a cultural exchange. (FY2021 grant project)

2022年4月28日: Notice on the Golden Week holidays
Our office will be closed from April 29 (Fri.) through May 5 (Thu.) for the Golden Week holidays in Japan.
Your understanding will be appreciated.

2022年4月19日: Art historian Sophie Richard conducted a video interview with Ildegarda Scheidegger, who advises on and collects Japanese art. In her Zurich home, Ms. Scheidegger introduces her collection, which presents a view of Japan through modern art works. (FY2021 TIFO grant project)

2022年1月25日: Ms. Sophie Richard has interviewed Ms. Masami Yamada, Japanese art curator in the Asian Department at the Victoria and Albert Museum, about her role, and about the V&A’s Japanese art collection. The video was produced to feature the interview and a walk-through introduction to the museum’s Toshiba Gallery of Japanese art (FY2021 grant project).

2021年12月24日: Notice on the Winter Holidays
Our office will be closed from December 29 (Wed.) through January 4 (Tue.) for the winter holidays in Japan.
Your understanding will be appreciated.

2021年12月1日: The application for FY2022 grant closed at the end of November, 2021.

2021年11月9日: The video "Tokyo: Art & Photography – Exhibition Film" produced by the University of Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology was posted (FY2021 grant program).

2021年10月6日: The video "Oyama, A Sacred Mountain of Japan" produced by the Oyama Pilgrimage Committee (FY2021 Grant) was posted.

2021年10月1日

TIFO starts receiving applications for grants for FY 2022.

TIFO’s brochure for 2021 was uploaded.

2021年8月30日: The EAJS conference 2021, sponsored by TIFO, was held from August 24th to 28th.

2021年6月15日: Message from the new Chairman was posted.

2021年4月26日: Notice on the Golden Week holidays
Our office will be closed from April 29 (Thurs.) through May 5 (Wed.) for the Golden Week holidays in Japan.
Your understanding will be appreciated.

2021年4月13日: We would like to introduce a digest video of an educational webinar about koto and biwa held by the Morikami Museum (FY2020 Grant) in Florida, USA in collaboration with Japan Cultural Promotion Management in February, 2021.

2021年4月6日: Ms. Sophie Richard, art historian and author of ‘The Art Lover’s Guide to Japanese Museums,’ has produced a series of videos in which she talks to people from the world of art about their love of Japanese arts.

2021年3月19日: We have released a special site that collects essays from alumni of Toshiba Youth Club Asia for the past 6 years.

2020年12月1日: We have stopped accepting the application for grant for FY2021.

2020年10月1日: TIFO starts receiving applications for grants for FY 2021 on October 1st, 2020.

2020年8月26日: TIFO’s brochure for 2020 was uploaded.

2020年7月31日

Message from the Chairman was updated.

New essays relative to Japan-Insights website were uploaded.

In ‘The Gardens and Landscape of Tohoku,’ and ‘The Gardens of Tokyo’ two young gardeners from Kew Gardens, recount their what they saw and learned while studying Japanese gardens in Japan’s north-east and Tokyo.
In ‘Rustic Houses and Rice Fields in Yamaguchi’ and ‘Culture, Tradition, and Innovation along the Rice-Road’ the archaeologist Dr. Kitagawa Chiori details two typical examples of rustic houses and the values of Japanese aesthetics, and Doigahama site featuring lives in the early Yayoi Period.

2020年7月28日: TIFO Activities Report was updated to feature FY2019 activities.

2020年7月23日

Videos related to essays and the current focus of interest, COVID-19, have also been uploaded.

In 'Japanese Classics in a Time of Contagion', Dr. Robert Campbell, Director General of the National Institute of Japanese Literature, delves into the lives of premodern people dealing with infectious diseases.
A performance of ‘2020 Glories of the Japanese Music Heritage XV’, introduced by Professor Barbara Rush, Director of the Institute for Medieval Japanese Studies at Columbia University
'Uncovering the Mystery of Japan's Stonehenge,’ a BBC documentary, adds to our understanding of the Kanayama Megalith, featured in Dr. Harriett Natsuyama’s essay.

2020年7月22日

New essays have been recently added to Japan-Insights

Dr. Barak Kushner, Professor of East Asian Studies at the University of Cambridge, takes a look at the different food cultures of Tokyo and Osaka in ‘Eating and Slurping in Osaka.'
In ‘the Soul of the Japanese Blade,’ Dr. Erich Pauer, an expert in Japanese technological and economic development at the CEEJA in France, delves into the history of tatara, the traditional steel making process.
Dr. Regina Mathias, a scholar of social and economic history at France’s CEEJA, introduces in her essay ‘Ciapangu, Land of Gold and Silver’ a little known Japan.

2020年4月6日: 'Northern Jomon Culture Seen from the World,' by Mr. Takada Kazunori, Director at Goshono Jomon Park, offers readers of Japan-Insights an informative look at the fascinating culture that developed in the unique geographical environment of Northern Tohoku and Hokkaido. This complements 'Enhanced Landscapes of Japanese Prehistory,' by the University of East Anglia’s Dr. Simon Kaner, which take a broader look at Jomon sites in Japan.

2020年3月26日: In ‘Spectacular Buildings, Sendai’s Legacy of Architecture and Art,’ Kyushu University art historian Dr. Anton Schweizer explores two fascinating aspects of Sendai’s architectural heritage: the Japanese baroque that flourished under Date Masamune, governor during the early years of the Tokugawa shogunate; and its vibrant modern architecture, exemplified by the distinctive Sendai Mediatheque.

2020年2月21日: The videos of final presentation and students’ interview of TYCA Vol.6 released.

2020年2月18日: Toshiba Youth Club Asia Vol.6 was held on December, 2019.

2019年12月05日: We have stopped accepting the application for grant for FY2020.

2019年12月4日: The award ceremony for the essay contest was held on November 26th.

2019年10月01日: TIFO starts receiving applications for grants for FY 2020 on October 1st, 2019.

2019年6月19日: We received a congratulatory message from Prof. Harald Fuess of Heidelberg University.

2019年4月23日: Toshiba Youth Club Asia Vol.5 was held on March, 2019.

2019年4月11日: We launched the 30-year anniversary site.

2018年12月07日: We have stopped accepting the application for grant for FY 2019.

2018年10月01日: TIFO starts receiving applications for grants for FY 2019 on October 1st, 2018.

2018年07月18日: Our website was updated.

2018年04月27日

Japan-Insights is enriched with a new essay:

'Samurai Art of the Edo Period'
by Dr. Timon Screech, Professor at Department of History of Art
at the School of Oriental and African Studies, SOAS University of London, U.K.

2018年04月06日

Japan-Insights has posted more essays in which experts share their love of Japan.

Dr. Flavia Fulco, Sophie University ICC, Japan ‘Kataribe: A Keyword to Recovery’
Dr. Simon Kaner, University of East Anglia, UK ‘Izumo: Lands of Gods, Myths, and Metals’
Dr. Ewa Pa?asz-Rutkowska, University of Warsaw, Poland ‘The Symbol of Modern Japan’

2018年02月06日: TYCA Vol.4 held from December 22 to 29, 2017.

2017年12月01日: We stopped accepting applications for grant on Novemver 30th.

2017年11月29日: "Japan-Insights" opens on November 29th. "Japan-Insights" encourages people around the world not just to visit Japan, but to find and explore the real Japan. This is made possible by some of the world’s leading experts, scholars, and professors in Japanese studies through essays that explore and showcase their expertise.

2017年10月01日: TIFO started to accept the grant application for fiscal year 2018 on October 1st.

2017年09月08日: On Monday, 4th September 2017, TIFO signed an agreement with the Cambridge Trust and the Japanese Studies section of the University of Cambridge to establish the Toshiba Cambridge Japan and the World Graduate Scholarship for PhD candidate student.

2017年07月26日: Our website has been redesigned.