News and Reports Archive

This year the Japan Foundation London will carry out our Survey on Japanese Language Education in the UK. This is part of the Japan Foundation’s worldwide survey that takes place every three years and aims to find out about the state of Japanese language education around the world.   In…

September 20th 2018 marked exactly one year to go before the Rugby World Cup kicks off in Japan. To mark this event, the Japan Foundation and SOAS held a symposium on the topics of rugby in Japan and sporting mega-events themselves. This event was the third in its series and…

Sir Hugh Cortazzi at his home in St John’s Wood, London (2013) image by Jeremy Hoare   The Japan Foundation London is deeply saddened by the death of Sir Hugh Cortazzi GCMG on Tuesday 14th August 2018. A former Ambassador to Japan and Chairman of the Japan Society, his tireless work…

There is a new course on the Japan Foundation’s Minato e-learning platform: Introduction to Kansai Dialect A2 Self-Study Course Kansai is a region in the west of Japan famous for its delicious food, fascinating history and distinctive dialect. Lively Osaka, beautiful Kyoto and deer-filled Nara are just some of the…

The ESRC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) are please to invite applications for the UK-Japan Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities Connections Grants, aimed at fostering the development of long-term relationships with Japanese researchers in the field of social sciences and humanities. (SSH)   Application period: July 17…

The Finals Day for the Nihongo Cup Japanese Speech Contest for Secondary School Students 2018 was held on 16th June 2018 at Conway Hall in London. It was a fantastic day full of learning, laughter and even a few tears. Students from across the UKs wowed the audience and judges with…

The Hakuho Foundation is now accepting applications for the 14th Hakuho Foundation Japanese Research Fellowship. With the goals of further strengthening the fundamentals of international research into Japan and deepening international understanding of Japan, the Hakuho Foundation Japanese Research Fellowship invites leading international researchers of the Japanese language, Japanese language…

The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2018: (Un)true Colours: Secrets and Lies in Japanese Cinema #JFTFP18 2 February – 28 March 2018 “Consisting mainly of contemporary works, with the odd anniversary screening and classic to enrichen the mix, this annual Touring Programme offers the best opportunity for UK audiences to…

Pupils enjoy a Japanese language lesson (top left). An indoor skipping workshop (top right). A brilliant taiko drumming performance in the main hall (bottom left). Pupils take part in a football workshop (bottom right). On 16th March 2018, lucky pupils from primary schools throughout Coventry took part in a day…

A huge “otsukaresama deshita”* and “omedetou gozaimasu”** to the 23 finalists who took part in the finals day of the Thirteenth Japanese Speech Contest for University Students Finals Day on 24th February 2018 at Kings College London. * (“You’ve worked hard!”) ** (“Congratulations!”) This year’s finalists competed against applicants from…

This February 16 2018 saw the return of the annual Japanese Studies postgraduate workshop, the seventh jointly hosted by the Japan Foundation London and the British Association for Japanese Studies (BAJS). Held at SOAS University of London and attended by 36 postgraduate students from 22 different UK universities working on…

Japan’s Shinto religion, morals in folktales and the impact of Japanese culture on music and art turned out to be winning topics at the Nihongo Cup Japanese Speech Contest for Secondary School Students 2017, which was held on 24th June at Conway Hall in London. The 18 finalists, who had been…