Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation

08/06/2026

We are delighted to welcome Dr Victoria Young to the Foundation’s board of trustees. A long-standing friend of the Foundation, Dr Young's connection with the Foundation spans her career, from receiving support as a student to contributing to our studentship programme and judging our translation prize.

We look forward to working with her in this new role.

05/06/2026

Team GBSF have a special interest in this year's FT Nikkei Ekiden - as one fifth of the Embassy of Japan in the UK State Visit Legacy Team.

Our gruelling training regime now enters its final, most delicately calibrated phase, and we hope the same is true for our teammates from The Japan Society, Japan House London and of course the Embassy of Japan in the UK itself. 🇯🇵🇬🇧

The FT Nikkei UK Ekiden, now in its 3rd year, takes place on Friday 12 June! Competitors will run along the Thames path starting in Windsor. 🏃

The event celebrates today's young generation and aims to strengthen the friendship between 🇯🇵 and 🇬🇧 through this popular Japanese style relay race.🎽

Good luck to all runners, and to all the spectators - have fun cheering on your team!

02/06/2026

We can't thank everyone who made our biennnial studentship and alumni day such a success enough. Most of all, thanks to our current cohort of resourceful, enquiring and dedicated postgraduate students!

And of course to 日本財団 for driving this initiative and joining us.

30/04/2026

We were delighted to support an exciting range of Japanese titles at Q***r East Festival 2026, which kicks off this Friday 1st May.

The line-up includes two rare 35mm print screenings from the National Film Archive of Japan, two director-focused programmes, and many more. See more details below...

https://queereast.org.uk/festival-2026/

14/04/2026

In 2024, we supported twelve Buddhist monks from Hasedera Temple in Nara to visit Norwich and introduce the sacred Buddhist chant known as Shōmyō, as part of the Norfolk & Norwich Festival to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures.

Hasedera Temple have since produced a multilingual visitors' guide! Future visitors, add it to your bookmarks: https://hasedera.or.jp/free/?id=984

10/04/2026

Genderscope and SOAS Japan Society are hosting two events in London (17–18 April 2026) centred on Mimoza Ways, a play about Japanese women’s experiences through 100 years of history! These events bring together voices from academia, the arts, and journalism to explore how storytelling shapes women’s lives across cultures and generations.

These events are free and open to the public! Reserve your spot via the links below...

17 April – Screening + discussion
👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mimoza-ways-screening-discussion-womens-voices-from-japan-tickets-1985682381456?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl
18 April – Panel discussion
👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/voices-across-generations-art-and-representation-of-women-in-japan-tickets-1985683208931?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl

12/03/2026

Watch students from Fudokan Dojo perform a ceremonial demonstration at the opening of the British Museum’s Samurai exhibition!

We're proud to have helped support both this exciting exhibition and a retreat in Japan last year during which this ritual was researched and rehearsed.

Samurai at the British Museum is open until 4th May 2026 - have you had a chance to visit yet?

https://youtu.be/FyPUEt6rst4?si=6PAm3cr3qy-SiO0G

Fudokan Dojo were honoured to be asked to perform the demonstration at the opening of the Samurai Exhibition at the British Museum on January 29th 2026. They...

11/02/2026

Last night we joined the Society of Authors for their 2025 Translation Prize ceremony, a celebration of outstanding translations from around the globe and across a range of genres.

We're delighted to offer our congratulations to the winner of the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation Translation Prize, Ginny Tapley Takemori for her translation of Mornings With My Cat Mii!

Congratulations also to our runner-up Bryan Karetnyk for his translation of The Little Sparrow Murders!

01/12/2025

Challenging themes, a pygmy hippopotamus, nursery rhyme murders, and… a cat. Yes, it’s the shortlist for our translation prize with The Society of Authors! This year’s is an extraordinarily wide field, reflecting the breadth and depth of Japanese writing - setting the translators some serious challenges…

https://societyofauthors.org/2025/12/01/announcing-the-translation-prizes-2025-shortlists/

24/10/2025

JEST 2025 has now completed with a great success! They had a super busy day even on the last day today. It started with having three Japanese style lessons at a local high school. Then, they had Noh experience at a local Noh theatre before reuniting with their host families and school buddies at a farewell party. They have left for England now. Well done to all students and members of staff on going through such a full schedule for a week!
The Latimer Arts College