Our Aim
The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation seeks to promote mutual understanding and cooperation between the UK and Japan through financial support for activities in a number of fields, from Arts and Culture to Humanities and Social Issues, from Japanese Language and Sport and Education, from Science and Technology to Medicine and Health.
The Foundation’s Head Office is in London and there is a Liaison Office in Tokyo.
The London office has three annual deadlines for their awards, and the Tokyo office has two annual deadlines. For further details on our grants, please click here.
The next deadline for applications to our UK office is 15th September 2025 for consideration in November 2025.
The next deadline for applications to our Japan office is 30th September 2025 for consideration in November 2025.
News
- New Chief Executive for The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundaiton
The GB Sasakawa Foundation are delighted to announce that Charles Bodsworth will take over as CEO from 12 May 2025. Charles has lived and worked in Japan and is a Japanese speaker. He previously worked at: Japan House London, Scope, Imperial War Museums and the BBC. He studied English at Cambridge University, Japanese at Sheffield University and was a Daiwa Scholar.
Charles follows Jenny White, who was CEO from 2020-25. GBSF are very grateful to Jenny for all that she achieved during her tenure.
- Supporting Global Efforts in Antimicrobial Research (AMR)
The escalating threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), where common infections may soon become untreatable, has underscored the necessity for a global response. The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation are supporting a new partnership between UK and Japanese researchers at The Sir Howard Dalton Centre at the University of Warwick, the Institute of Development Studies affiliated with the University of Sussex and the National Center for Global Health and Medicine (NCGM) in Tokyo, with the aim of accelerating the discovery of new antibiotics and preparing for future pandemics through international cooperation and policy development.
‘Japan and UK both have extensive capabilities in antibiotic discovery, drawing on complementary research strengths across academia, industry, and national infrastructure. Given the acknowledged shortcomings of the existing economic model in incentivising antibiotic discovery and development, there is an urgent need for new international collaborations that will endure over the long term. We look forward to a productive partnership’. – Joanna Pitman, Vice Chair, The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation.
Read more here: University of Warwick Press Release.
- Special Fund for Disaster Preparedness
The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation is incredibly saddened to hear about the recent earthquake in the Noto Peninsula. Our thoughts and sympathies are with all of those affected by the earthquake. For anyone who may wish to make a donation to support the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake, The Nippon Foundation has set up this fund, Special Fund for Disaster Preparedness.
- Annual Report & Accounts 2023
The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation’s Annual Report & Accounts for 2023 is now available to be viewed online. The Report includes a list of all grants awarded in 2023, highlights from recently funded projects, and accounts for the year. The 2023 Annual Report, as well as those from previous years, can be found on the Annual Reports page of the website.
- The Butterfield Awards and NIHR
The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation is now registered as a National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Non-commercial Partner organisation for the Butterfield Awards, with projects in receipt of a Butterfield Award therefore eligible for NIHR Clinical Research Network Support.
- The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation Translation Prize
We are excited to announce a partnership with the Society of Authors for a new prize for translations into English of Japanese-language literature. The shortlist 2024 has been announced on 2nd December 2024. Winners of the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation Translation Prize will receive £3,000, with the first prize to be announced on 12th February 2025. The next deadline for submissions will be 31st March 2025. More information here.
- GBSF and SDGs
Our application forms have now been updated to request all applicants identify which of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, their project supports. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an urgent call for action by all countries – developed and developing – in a global partnership for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.
Recently Funded
- Gallery Cento in Glasgow presents an exhibition ‘Yuki Okumura: 136 Locations – 956 Intersections’, 21st January – 25th February 2024.
- Curated by Charlotte Linton, a photography exhibition ‘How Haring saw Amami under military rule: Photo exhibition for the 70th Anniversary of the reversion of the Amami Islands to Japan’ is held in Kagoshima, Japan, 23rd December 2023 – 22nd April 2024.
- Naviar Records presents a sound installation ‘Fukuoka Postcards‘ at Studio Kura in Itoshima, Japan, 27th and 28th January 2024.
- MuArts presentes in partnership with the Japan Foundation a music concert ‘Kimura & Ono with Kit Downes: Betwixt Mortality & Immortality‘ at Kings Place in London, 29th February 2024.
- The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2024, ‘Unforgettable: Memories, Times and Reflections in Japanese Cinema’, visits 30 cities across the UK, 2nd February – 31st March 2024.
- The William Morris Gallery in London presents ‘Art Without Heros: Mingei’, the largest ever exhibition in the UK dedicated to mingei, 23rd March – 22nd September 2024.
- Dulwich Picture Gallery in London presents ‘Yoshida: Three Generations of Japanese Printmaking‘, the first ever exhibition in the UK that shines a spotlight on the Yoshida family and their woodblock prints, 19th June – 20th October 2024.
- Produced by Amélie Ravalec, two documentaries of Japanese Avant-Garde, ‘Japanese Avant-Garde Pioneers’ and ‘Japan Visions’, to be released in 2024.
- Sasakawa Postgraduate Studentship alum Nick Bradley’s second novel, ‘Four Seasons in Japan‘, following his debut ‘The Cat and The City’, is now available, published by Doubleday.
- Edinburgh University Press has published ‘Film and Fashion in Japan, 1923-39: Consuming the ‘West’‘ by Sasakawa Postgraduate Studentship alumna Lois Barnett as part of their Film and Fashions series. There is a 30% launch discount for orders from the EUP website, using code NEW30 at checkout.
- The publication ‘Late Hokusai: Society, Though, Technique, Legacy‘ edited by Timothy Clark is now available, developed from an international symposium held at the British Museum.
- A podcast of audio walking tours, historicity has launched a new series focused on Tokyo, available to listen wherever podcasts are available.
- Arcola Theatre in London presents a new stage adaptation by Bryony Lavery of Haruki Murakami’s novel ‘Sputnik Sweetheart’, 23rd October – 25th November 2023.
- The Photographers’ Gallery in London presents Daido Moriyama: A Retrospective, the first UK retrospective of one of the world’s most innovative and influential artists and street photographers, 6th October 2023 – 11th February 2024.
- Creative Japan is a new podcast series by London and Tokyo-based broadcaster Nick Luscombe exploring art and community across Japan, and is now available from podcast providers, including Spotify, Apple, Amazon and Google.
More information on projects funded by the Foundation can be found in our Annual Reports.
The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation is not responsible for the content of external websites.