Daiwa Scholars 2025
The Foundation is delighted to announce the three Daiwa Scholars 2025.
The Scholars travelled out to Tokyo on 1 September 2025.
The Scholars have studied at the following institutions:
University of Exeter, Newcastle University and the London School of Economics and Political Sciences
Their profiles with photos (updated in July 2025) can be viewed via the link below:
About the scholars
Henry Metcalf-Wood
Henry completed a BA in History and Archaeology in 2022 and an MSc in Experimental Archaeology in 2023, both at the University of Exeter. He has a long-standing interest in Japanese archery and bows. During his MSc he travelled to Japan for four weeks to undertake research for his dissertation on reconstructing Kofun Period Japanese bows. He gained new insight into the transition from early wooden bows to the laminated Japanese bow known today. He has been working as an Auction Assistant at Olympia Auctions, specialising in cataloguing Japanese arms and armour, as well as archery equipment from across the world. He aims to enhance his knowledge of antique arms and armour before studying for a PhD that further explores and contributes to Japanese research on ancient archery. He aspires to become a specialist in Japanese arms and armour in order to assist museums in the UK with their collections.
Leo Nelki Gopfert
Leo was awarded a BA in English Literature by Newcastle University in 2020. He has visited Japan several times in the past few years, and spent a year abroad in Tokyo during his undergraduate studies. As part of his BA, Leo conducted a comparative study of Japanese kabuki actors and English stage actors of the 18th century, and a study into Ugandan immigrants in Japan. He wrote his undergraduate dissertation on the film theory of Matsumoto Toshio. Leo runs his own independent documentary production company, specialising in innovative formal approaches to documentary films. He is now developing a slate of films across the UK, Japan and Democratic Republic of Congo. His films have been selected and funded by major film festivals and institutions worldwide including Sundance, Locarno, Creative Europe Media and BFI Doc Society.
Daigan Reid
Daigan was awarded a BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics by the London School of Economics and Political Sciences in 2021. He has a wealth of experience in the gaming industry and spent the last year building a hardware product in the niche of AAA blockchain gaming. Daigan has been consuming Japanese anime, games and music since the age of ten when he first watched Princess Mononoke and One Piece. He has been studying Japanese at the LSE Language Centre and spent three months living in Japan from February to April 2023. During this time, he began his formal journey with the language, volunteered at conferences, and furthered his knowledge of Japanese innovations in the gaming sector. It is his dream to reach fluent Japanese and to spend a prolonged period in Japan.