What's On

The Japan Foundation London has begun collecting information for the Japanese Studies Survey 2025.

JF London, with the cooperation of the British Association for Japanese Studies (BAJS), conducts a survey every 5 years. Our survey targets universities, researchers and students undertaking Japan-related studies in the humanities and social sciences, to analyse trends and support researchers in expanding their networks.The survey is essential in investigating the current landscape of Japanese Studies and Japan-related research in the UK

What will the survey include?

(1) University Directory Survey - This directory aims to provide students and the general public with useful reference information by listing universities that offer humanities and social sciences programs related to Japanese studies, employ faculty members specialising in such areas, or provide Japanese language education.

(2) Student Survey - This survey is intended for students in academic departments offering Japan-related studies programs, students in the humanities and social sciences whose topic of research or primary interest includes Japan, and undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students majoring in Japanese language or translation studies. (Students studying only Japanese language are not eligible.) 

(3) Researcher Survey - This survey is intended for researchers affiliated with Japan-related studies departments, as well as researchers in the humanities and social sciences whose research includes Japan as a research subject.

(4) Researcher Directory Survey - To facilitate networking among students and researchers, we will create a directory of humanities and social sciences researchers whose work includes Japan-related studies, regardless of whether they are affiliated with Japanese studies department. This directory will be published on our website.

Deadline for All Responses: 12th September 2025

How can I help?

We have begun requesting information from universities across the UK, their students, and researchers in the field.

If you would like to participate in the survey or you would like any further information, please contact us at:

LO_JapaneseStudies@jpf.go.jp (CC Natsumi_Abe@jpf.go.jp and Iona_Vos@jpf.go.jp)

We look forward to hearing from you and thank you in advance for your cooperation.

You can view the 2020 Japanese Studies Survey here.

The second round of applications for the Japan Foundation London Grant Programme FY 2025-26 has opened!

Deadline: Friday 8 August 2025

For projects taking place between 1 September 2025 – 31 March 2026.

This programme is designed to provide grant assistance to projects (e.g. lectures, workshops, conferences) in any discipline of the humanities and social sciences that have a significant Japan element, or involve collaboration with Japanese researchers/practitioners.

Projects must take place in the UK to be eligible for support and applications can only be accepted from not-for-profit organisations in the UK.

Priority will be given to projects that fall under one or more of the following descriptions:

1.     Projects that will bring together researchers/ practitioners from a variety of disciplines and sectors that are relevant to Japan

2.     Projects organised by, and/or involving core participation by, early career researchers/ practitioners

3.     Projects that will nurture diverse interests in Japan among future generations in the UK

Applications for preliminary project development will be considered as long as such projects include some of the above elements.

Grant coverage:

Only specific items such as travel expenses, honoraria, venue hire, printing/publicity costs etc. which are deemed to be essential in order to carry out the project.

Successful applicants may be granted up to £1500. As successful applicants will not necessarily be granted the full requested amount, applicants are strongly encouraged to secure additional funding from their own organisation and elsewhere.

Before contacting us, please read the full Application Instructions, containing further details about eligibility and the Application Process.

Application Deadline: Friday 8 August

Results will be notified by the end of August.

To read the Application Instructions PDF, click here.

If you have any questions, email Iona Vos at LO_JapaneseStudies@jpf.go.jp.

When you email us, please CC Natsumi_Abe@jpf.go.jp (Assistant Director for JF London and Manager of Japanese Studies Affairs) and Iona_Vos@jpf.go.jp (Assistant Programme Officer for Japanese Studies).

Date:	8 August 2025
Download 01_2025_Application_Instructions (2nd call)

We are proud to support this hybrid event organised by SOAS, University of London and the University of Oxford. The event will screen interview recordings of the Japanese diaspora in the UK, before a panel discussion, and a private viewing (for in-person attendees). The full event description can be found below.

This event is free to attend, but registration is essential. It is an English-Japanese bilingual event.

In-person & live streaming available. 

Registration: https://forms.office.com/e/x8y6mXbdX8

Theme:

All are welcome to the event! Who are we, living in different countries? What legacy did our predecessors and pioneers leave? How should we continue and renew it? Let us discover answers and directions through the panel discussion and public viewing of the Wasurena-gusa Project interview recordings of the Japanese diaspora in the UK. 

https://wasurenagusa.org.uk/

Schedule: 

14.40-15.00 Public viewing of interview recordings

15.00-17.00 Panel discussion 

17.00-17.55 Public viewing and reception 

Speakers (in alphabetical order):

Prof. Emeritus John C. Maher of International Christian University 

Associate Prof. Laura Mark of University of Sussex 

Prof. Emeritus Kazuko Miyake of Toyo University 

Prof. Yoshiko Nakano of Tokyo University of Science 

Mrs. Momoko Williams of Japan Association in the UK

Padlet (for more information)

https://padlet.com/nsperera/mobility-migration-and-transnational-communities-around-the--yi0hvpn3f1gl13cl

For any enquiries, please email: kaori.nishizawa@ames.ox.ac.uk

All welcome.

If you are a pre-university student in the UK, and you are interested in making friends from Japan and learning Japanese culture, while also attending lectures at top UK universities delivered by academics and professionals and learning crucial team work and presentation skills through participating in the UCL Grand Challenge Workshop, then why not register for the UCL-Japan Youth Challenge 2025?!

This is a prestigious, annual summer school programme that was established in 2015. The programme brings together students visiting from high schools across Japan with pre-university students from the UK.

The programme takes place across various locations, including the Rikkyo School in England, the University of Cambridge, and UCL.

This year marks the 10^th anniversary of the programme! The theme is “Space for the Future”, focusing on how we can shape our future with the most advanced science and technology.

This year’s programme will run from Saturday 26^th July – Sunday 3^rd August 2025. Please note that some dates are optional, and full details can be found on the UCL-Japan Youth Challenge website.

The programme is now taking applications from UK students, so if you know anyone you think might be interested, please share the information with them!

For more information, visit the UCL-Youth Challenge official website: UCL-Japan Youth Challenge - Summer school programme