Our aim

The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation is a UK-based charity with offices and trustees in the UK and Japan that supports and develops mutual understanding and co-operation between the UK and Japan, mainly through small grants to projects in both countries. Each year we provide well over £1m in funding to hundreds of projects in the arts, sport, education, science, social issues, medicine and other fields. The key characteristic that unites them all is the determination to build relationships and understanding between the two countries for the benefit of both.

Offices and application deadlines

Our main office is in London, with a second office in Tokyo.

The UK office has three annual deadlines for grant applications, and the Japan office has two annual deadlines.

The next deadline for standard applications to our UK office is 15 September 2026 for consideration in November 2026.

The next deadline for Butterfield Award applications to our UK office is 1 December 2026 for consideration in March 2027.

The next deadline for applications to our Japan office is 30 September 2026 for consideration in November 2026.

What we do

As well as our grant-giving programmes, we support up to 30 postgraduate studentships in Japanese studies at UK universities, collaborate with the Society of Authors on an annual translation prize, fund and run an annual school trip to Japan, and support a dedicated programme of research into the vital issue of antimicrobial resistance.