Contact Us Sitemap

Funding

From the year 2023-2024, all applications should be digitally submitted and applicants should register to make an account for the procedures.

Japanese Studies Fellowship Programme

This program provides preeminent foreign scholars and researchers in the field of Japanese studies with opportunities to conduct research in Japan, with the aim of supporting them and promoting Japanese studies overseas. Experts in the fields of natural science, medical science, and engineering are excluded.

Those applying for the Japanese Studies Fellowship Programme may not apply for any other Japan Foundation grants.

There are three subcategories as follows.

1. Scholars and Researchers (Long Term) (4 - 12 months)

For scholars and researchers who have a Ph.D. degree or equivalent professional experience at the time of application and are conducting research related to Japan (comparative research included) in the humanities and social sciences, whose projects require them to travel to Japan to carry out research over a long period of time. A named affiliate in Japan is also required at the time of application.

2. Scholars and Researchers (Short-term) (21 days - 89 days)

For scholars and researchers who have a Ph.D. degree or equivalent professional experience at the time of application are conducting research related to Japan (comparative research included) in the humanities and social sciences, whose projects require them to travel to Japan to carry out research, gather materials, etc., intensively over a short period of time. A named affiliate in Japan is also required at the time of application.

3. Doctoral Candidates (4 - 12 months)

For doctoral candidates working in the field of Japanese Studies, the humanities and social sciences who are in the closing stages of their Ph.D. and who need to undertake fieldwork in Japan in order to complete their dissertation/thesis. A named affiliate in Japan is required at the time of application.

Grant Coverage:

  • Round-trip airfare (discount economy class - most direct and economical route)
  • Stipend and other allowances

Dates for FY 2024-2025 programme:

  • Applications available: Apply through our Online Application Portal. Details on the programme list on our Tokyo site
  • Application Deadline: Apply through Online Application Portal by 6am GMT (3pm Japan Standard Time) on Friday 1 December 2023
  • Notification of Results: April 2024
  • Project Duration: Research trips must commence between 1 June 2024 and 15 March 2025

US citizens residing in the UK without UK permanent resident status should submit their applications on-line via the website of the Japan Foundation, New York.

For further information, please contact the Assistant Programme Officer or go to the programme list on our Tokyo site.

Please contact the Japan Foundation to discuss eligibility before applying.

Grant Recipients 2023-24

Short Term

Dr Filippo Cervelli, SOAS University of London -- Rethinking Contemporary Japanese Literature and Popular Culture

Long Term

Professor Sho Konishi, University of Oxford -- The Play of Virtues: Transnational Intellectual History of Anti-Imperial Civil War Criminals in Japan


Grant Recipients 2022-23

Doctoral Candidates

Mr Thomas Booth, University of Cambridge -- A Swarm of Bees: Understanding the Causes and Motivations of the Tokusei Protests.

Mr Sheung Chun Jonathan Yeung, University of Cambridge -- Chinese Students and the Construction of the Japanese Empire, 1896-1945

Long Term

Dr Thomas McAuley, University of Sheffield -- The Development, Significance and Impact of Waka Poetry Competitions, 885-1203


Grant Programme for Japanese Studies Projects

This programme is designed to promote Japanese studies overseas by providing grants to non-profit organisations such as higher education institutions and research institutions that are implementing Japanese Studies activities.

Eligible projects must fall into any of the following four categories:

  • Research or conference on Japan; study or training in Japan; or publications that promote and contribute to the development of Japanese studies;
  • Inviting scholars or researchers from Japan or other countries to deliver lectures on Japan;
  • Purchase of books and materials on Japanese studies;
  • Other relevant projects which would further promote and expand the horizon of Japanese studies.

*Projects in the field of natural sciences, commercial activities, arts and cultural activities, activities in support of specific doctrines or claims, and so forth are not eligible for this programme.

Grant Coverage:

Part of the following expenses:

  • Travel expenses (international airfares and other transportation expenses, daily allowances and accommodation fees)
  • Honoraria (for lecturers, collaborators, interpreters, etc.)
  • Meeting expenses (for preparing materials, venues, equipment, public relations, etc.);
  • Other direct expenses (for purchasing materials, etc.)

Dates for FY 2024-25 programme:

  • Applications available: Apply through our Online Application Portal. Details on the programme list on our Tokyo site
  • Application Deadline: Apply through Online Application Portal by 6am GMT (3pm Japan Standard Time) on Friday 1 December 2023
  • Notification of Results: April 2024
  • Project Duration: Projects must be implemented and completed during FY 2024-25

For further details on this programme and application forms either contact the Assistant Programme Officer or go to our Tokyo site.

Please contact the Japan Foundation to discuss eligibility before applying.

UK Grant Recipients 2023-24

Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures (SISJAC) – a grant towards ‘Conference: Stone Circles across Eurasia’


UK Grant Recipients 2022-23

British Association for Japanese Studies (BAJS) – a grant towards ‘British Association for Japanese Studies Conference 2022’

Japan Foundation London Grant Programme (Japanese Studies & Intellectual Exchange) 2023-2024

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:

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 £3000. 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.

Application Deadline:

No deadline, but applications must reach our office at least two months before the start of the project.

For further details on this programme please click here or contact the Assistant Programme Officer

Recently this programme has supported the following projects:

2022-23

University of Oxford
Missing Bodies, Missing Voices: Ordinary Lives and the Reframing of ‘Postwar Japan’

Leeds University
Crossing Boundaries: Translating Li Kotomi into English

University of Bristol
Bristol Translates – Japanese Translation Workshop

Programme for Specialists in Cultural and Academic Fields

This programme provides a six-month residential language course for specialists (researchers, postgraduate students, librarians, museum and art gallery curators, etc.) who need to improve their Japanese for academic or professional purposes. Courses take place at our Japanese-Language Institute in Kansai, Japan. Tuition, accommodation and meals are included in the programme but UK based applicants bear their own return travel expenses to Japan. The programme is open to those who are in a field of Japan-related humanities and social sciences, who are aged under 40, and who have a proficiency in Japanese, equivalent to or higher than level JLPT N4 (level 3 of the old JLPT).

Dates for FY 2024-25 programme:

Course Dates:

  • Course Dates: 6 month course, from late-September 2024 to late-March 2025
  • Applications available: on the programme list on our Tokyo site
  • Application Deadline: Apply through Online Application Portal by 4am GMT (1pm Japan Standard Time) on Thursday 30 November 2023
  • Notification of Results: Late April 2024

For further details on this programme and application forms either contact the Assistant Programme Officer or go to our Tokyo site.

Please contact the Japan Foundation to discuss eligibility before applying.