Daiwa Foundation funds projects ranging from an Okinawan Bukubuku Tea Ceremony to Scientific Research into the Hepatitis B Virus

Categorised under: Grants

The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation has published details of its Small Grants and Awards awarded to support UK-Japan projects in its latest funding round (March 2020 round).

Durham University will receive support for a project with colleagues at Rissho and Tokyo Universities investigating Japanese heatwave related health impacts in order to better manage the health risk arising from heatwaves and inform scientific guidance on heat health warning systems.

A Small Grant was awarded to CineTap Films to help with the creation of a feature-length documentary film investigating skateboarding in Japan. Offering an alternative angle on Japan, Skate in Tokyo will investigate a sport which will be included in the Olympics for the first time at the Tokyo 2020 games.

Support will also be given to Manchester Metropolitan University, which is organising for two scholars from Japan to travel to the UK to take part in the translation and presentation of a previously undiscovered Hiroshima manuscript and sonata by the novelist Anthony Burgess.

The Foundation will support NPO Ryukyu Tea Akeshinono-kai who are organising a two-day celebration of the Okinawan bukubuku-cha (foamy tea), with classical Ryukyuan music, dance, and tea ceremonies performed by Okinawan tea masters.

A Small Grant was also awarded to the Okinawan Utahai Committee to aid musicians travelling to the UK to perform for the first time in London an Utahai (concert) and arrange workshops to celebrate modern Okinawan culture.

The Foundation will also support a visit to Cardiff by Meiro Koizumi, shortlisted for the Artes Mundi biennial exhibition and prize at the National Museum of Wales, to exhibit new work focussed on the representation of national histories, and memories of armed conflict, video installation and participatory work using VR headsets, 13 February to 6 June 2021.

The Foundation is also funding a number of large-scale institutional collaborations through its Awards programme, including a project undertaken by Imperial College London in collaboration with Kanazawa University. The aim is to identify the determinants of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) replication, with the goal of informing anti-HBV therapies and intervention strategies, while furthering the development of novel antiviral drugs.

Another Award will support a collaborative project between Loughborough University with Hiroshima Institute of Technology, and Tokyo, Keio, Kyoto and Kyushu Universities: twelve architecture students from Loughborough University will travel to Japan to participate in a multi-university extracurricular architectural exchange which will culminate in the construction of a full-scale pavilion at Hiroshima Institute of Technology, designed and realised by the international group of students, leading to exhibitions in both countries. A video of last year’s architectural exchange can be viewed here.

The full list of projects supported in the March 2020 round can be found here.

Background information:
The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation is a UK charity, established in 1988 with a generous benefaction from Daiwa Securities Co Ltd. The Foundation’s purpose is to support closer links between the UK and Japan. It does this by making grants available to individuals, institutions and organisations to promote links between the UK and Japan across all fields of activity; awarding scholarships to young British graduates to study Japan and its language; and by organising a year-round events’ programme at Daiwa Foundation Japan House in London to increase understanding of Japan in the UK. The Foundation is represented in Japan by its Tokyo office. Further information about the Foundation and its activities is available at http://armanios.co.uk/dev/daiwa2.

Press Enquiries
Susan Meehan
Grants and Scholarships Officer
Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation
13/14 Cornwall Terrace,London NW1 4QP

TEL: 020 7486 4348
Email: grants@dajf.org.uk