Daiwa Foundation funds projects ranging from the legal implications of deepfake technology, the work-life balance of doctors and a day devoted to the shakuhachi

The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation (www.dajf.org.uk) has published details of its Small Grants and Awards awarded to support a total of 32 UK-Japan projects in its latest funding round: March 2024.

A Daiwa Foundation Small Grant will support a free one-day event exploring the culture of the shakuhachi, consisting of a film screening, talks, and performances. Participants and players will include Katsuya Nonaka, Kiku Day, Clive Bell, and organiser Francis Moore, taking place in Autumn 2024.

Floral art designer Alice McCabe (UK), and bamboo fence maker Akihiro Mashimo (Japan) will collaborate to develop new ways of working sustainably with flowers on a large scale, bringing Japanese bamboo fencing techniques and UK floral art skills together in joint installations.

Academics at Essex Business School and the University of Shizuoka will explore the work-life balance of doctors in the UK and Japan via reciprocal research visits. The aim is to understand the reasons behind the high workload of doctors, particularly in Japan, and will result in workshops and articles.

Sam Wilde (work featured in the image above) will receive support for transport and accommodation costs associated with artist-in-residence programmes at Lake Saiko and Kobe City with a focus on creative exploration through the continuation of a Yōkai sculpture series – one is currently on show at the Young V&A – and of a Japanese ceramic anthology which was previously exhibited at Turner Contemporary. The residencies will culminate in an exhibition in Kobe at the end of the four-month stay.

Japanese mask maker Hideta Kitazawa will travel to the UK to participate in a series of events connected to Nohgaku (noh and kyogen). He will deliver mask-making demonstrations and engage in talks at, amongst other locations, the British Library, Japan House London, Durham University’s Oriental Museum, Royal Asiatic Society, SOAS Japan Research Centre and the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation. Kitazawa will also work with Akira Matsui, a master of Noh, on the development of a new Noh piece that will explore mask-making as part of the performance. The “From Tradition to Modernity” programme, organised by the Noh Training Project UK at Royal Holloway, University of London, the Between the Stones Project and Theatre Nohgaku, coincides with a Noh-related exhibition at the Embassy of Japan which opens from September 2024.

To highlight some of the larger institutional collaborations selected in this round, National Institute of Technology, Kumamoto College, and Nottingham Trent University, Department of Computer Science, have received a Daiwa Foundation Award to work together via reciprocal research trips on the development of an intelligent prosthetic arm, leveraging advancements in neuromorphic computing.

Collaborative academic research will also take place between Bournemouth University, Department of Humanities and Law, the University of Aberdeen, School of Law, and Waseda University Law School. This project will explore deepfake technology and its legal implications for the UK and Japan, focusing on copyright, data protection, privacy, and fraud law.

Lastly, as part of a collaboration between Playbox Theatre (UK) and Model Language Studio (Tokyo), 19 young people from England will travel to Tokyo for ten days to participate in theatre workshops and cultural exchange.

A small selection of successful projects are highlighted above. The full list of projects that received funding in the March 2024 round can be viewed here.

Background information:

The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation is a UK charity, established in 1988 with a generous benefaction from Daiwa Securities Co Ltd. The Foundation’s purpose is to support closer links between Great Britain and Japan. It does this by awarding grants and scholarships in all fields of activity; by supporting educational exchanges and other bilateral initiatives between British and Japanese academics and students; and by organising a year-round events’ programme at Daiwa Foundation Japan House in London to increase understanding of Japan in the UK. The Foundation is represented in Japan by its Tokyo office. Further information about the Foundation and its activities is available at www.dajf.org.uk.

 

Press Enquiries

Susan Meehan
Grants and Scholarships Officer
Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation
13/14 Cornwall Terrace
London NW1 4QP

TEL: 020 7486 4348   Email: grants@dajf.org.uk