United States-Japan Foundation Announces Latest Grants | United States-Japan Foundation
Summary
TOKYO The United States Foundation announced its latest round of grants awarded in late 2023 and early 2024.The projects funded cover a wide variety of themes, including support for: news coverage of Japans cutting-edge response to shared challenges such as aging and disaster recovery; exchange programs for low-income students in both countries; documentaries on the dangers of xenophobia as told through the little-known narrative of Japanese American draft resisters in World War II, and on diplomacy through the prism of baseball.The grants awarded illustrate the depth and breadth of the bilateral relationship, and the diverse ways that our nonprofit partners can have an impact in each country, said USJF president Jacob M. Schlesinger. They also reflect the Foundations move to update its mission and focus, to tackle new, emerging challenges facing our two nations, he added.The latest round of grants includes two separate exchange programs that invite participants from South Korea to join American and Japanese members, supporting efforts to project the bilateral relationship by bolstering ties with other allies. Other grants fund work aimed at enhancing U.S.-Japan cooperation in economic security, and in promoting commercial transparency and the rule of law around the Pacific. One grant recipient is exploring challenges to the alliance from the rise of isolationism in American politics.The Foundation is currently accepting applications to be considered later this year. An independent, endowed, charitable organization, it promotes research, dialogue, and debate in search of solutions by empowering next-generation leaders, funding innovative initiatives, and catalyzing collaboration across stakeholders.In addition to giving out grants, the Foundation has for the past 20 years run the US-Japan Leadership Program, a network that has grown to more than 500 American and Japanese policymakers, scholars, entrepreneurs, artists, and activists.