Daiwa Foundation funds projects ranging from the innovative use in decorative art of precious metals recovered from electronic waste to scientific research into hydrogen fuel cells

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 2021).

Dr Catherine Butler from Cardiff University will travel to Japan to research the popularity of British children’s literature in Japan, and its influence on Japanese literature and popular culture, leading to a published monograph.

Professor Sandra Wilson from the University of Dundee will travel to Japan to conduct research and experiments combining precious metals recovered from electronic-waste with traditional Japanese metalwork that uses gold frugally, leading to an exhibition with the Scottish Goldsmiths Trust in 2023.

The Japan-based theatre organisation Gorch Brothers will use a grant to host a week of workshops for Japanese playwrights in Tokyo, delivered by Mr Richard Twyman, Artistic Director of English Touring Theatre.

A grant will facilitate production of  Tohoku Recovery in Action, a documentary and accompanying book showcasing the resilience of communities affected by the 2011 tsunami, by writer James Clark and director Robbie McKane.

The British Museum will receive support for a publication accompanying an upcoming exhibition running from 30  September 2021 to 30 January 2022: Hokusai: The Great Picture Book of Everything, showcasing 103 recently rediscovered rare brush drawings by the celebrated print artist Katsushika Hokusai, providing a new perspective on Hokusai’s work and broader attitudes in nineteenth-century Japan.

The Foundation will also support the Royal Academy of Arts with its forthcoming exhibition, from 19 March 2022 until 19 June 2022, on Kawanabe Kyōsai, which aims to provide a reassessment of his art in light of recent scholarship and widen appreciation of his oeuvre.

Among larger institutional collaborations, researchers from the University of Sheffield, Kyushu University, University of Tokyo, and Hokkaido University will take part in major collaborative research into hydrogen fuel cells. They will investigate the possibility of using experimental and computational techniques to provide substantially less expensive fuel cell catalysts and electrolytes, bringing clean hydrogen fuel cell technology closer to implementation in society and thereby furthering decarbonisation of various industrial and domestic sectors, in particular the automotive, the electricity and the heating sectors.

The Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures is collaborating with Ritsumeikan University, Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo National Museum and the British Museum in conducting X-ray and CT examinations of Shinto statues housed in the collections of the Sainsbury Centre in Norwich, and on programmes in the UK and Japan enhancing research and educational networks.

Students from Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London (UAL) will travel to Japan for four months, taking part in a collaborative cross-disciplinary exchange at Kyoto Institute of Technology. This will form an integral part of the newly-established MA in Global Collaborative Design Practice, which is run jointly by the two universities.

Previous Press Releases

September 2020 Press Release
March 2020 Press Release
September 2019 Press Release
March 2019 Press Release

For more information on recently-funded projects, please refer here Recently funded – Daiwa foundation small grants and awards – Daiwa Foundation (dajf.org.uk).

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 Great Britain and Japan. It does this by awarding grants and scholarships in all fields of activity; by supporting educational exchanges and other bilateral initiatives between British and Japanese academics and students; 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 www.dajf.org.uk

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