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US-Japan Foundation Expands Grant Program
November 2020
The United States-Japan Foundation is pleased to announce a restructuring and an expansion of its Grant Program profile.
As in previous years, grants will be awarded biannually (Spring and Autumn), but the grant categories have been revised. Spring grants will be awarded to applications addressing a specific theme announced by the Foundation. Autumn grants will be awarded to applications submitted under the Foundation’s legacy categories of Education, Policy and Communication & Public Opinion (see below for schedules). In general, a greater percentage of the Foundation’s available annual funds will be dedicated to thematic grants.
Thematic Grants
Thematic grants present opportunities for a diverse range of individuals, sectors and disciplines to address a single issue of mutual consequence to American and Japanese societies. The Foundation will favor projects submitted by partnerships of Japanese and American applicants.
Themes will be proposed annually. Projects proposing one and two year durations will be considered. Funding for multi-year grants will be awarded annually (incrementally) based on satisfactory performance.
Recipients of discrete thematic grants will be fully informed about the contents of all other successful thematic applications. All awardees will be expected to interact in biannual gatherings (virtual) organized by the Foundation. Sharing resources, methodologies, discoveries and critiques, each thematic cohort is will be expected to devise a method of communicating its relevant insights to specialists and general audiences. The Foundation will actively monitor awards and peer perspectives may be solicited to evaluate
the original application or to observe or assist the grantee’s progress.
2021 Theme: Disruption and Resilience
The inaugural theme initiated with this application invitation addresses the topic of “Disruption and Resilience.” March 11, 2021 marks the tenth anniversary of the triple, interlinked disasters –earthquake, tsunami and an overwhelmed nuclear facility–which struck Japan’s Tohoku region.
Consequences of that series of events continue to reverberate nationally and internationally across all areas of society. Its consequences are both expected and surprising.
The Foundation welcomes project applications addressing aspects the Tohoku disaster or topics which range more widely and address the reactions of societies jarred by or anticipating disruptions of scale, whether natural or human in origin.
The 2022 theme will be announced in November 2021.
USJF Legacy Grants
The annual Autumn cycle will be dedicated to applications submitted under the familiar categories of Policy, Pre-collegiate Education and Communication and Public Opinion. This grant cycle will continue the Foundation’s dedication to our traditional grant categories. Applications for grants proposing projects of one and two duration will be considered. Funding for multi-year grants will be awarded annually (incrementally) based on satisfactory performance.
The Foundation will favor projects submitted by partnerships of Japanese and American applicants. In addition, grant applications that propose partnerships with other sponsoring sources are encouraged. The Foundation may suggest partnership sources to the grantee.
Out of Cycle Requests
Although the Foundation plans to focus the Spring grant cycle on thematic grants and the Autumn cycle on traditional category grants, out of cycle requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
COVID-19
The Foundation recognizes the considerable and varying restrictions imposed local and national jurisdictions attempting to contain the pandemic. These restrictions will likely be in place through much of 2021 and beyond.
In the interest of limiting the spread of the Corona virus during these extraordinary times, the Foundation has ruled out International travel for its staff for 2021. Likewise, the Foundation will not accept grant proposals which request funds for international travel for 2021. Also, any proposed group gatherings must comply with attendance limitations as determined by local jurisdictions.
Grant timeline for 2021 and beyond
Spring (themed) cycle:
• November: announcement of the coming year’s theme
• January 15: Letters of Inquiry (LOI) due
• February 1: Request for Proposals (RFP) issued to selected projects
• March 1: Proposals Due
• April (approx. 3rd week): Grants awarded
• May, November (approx.) : Themed grant portfolio touch-point sessions
(virtual)
Autumn (traditional category) cycle:
• July 15: LOIs due
• August 1: RFPs issued
• September 1: Proposals Due
• October (approx. 4th week): Grants awarded
We hope and expect that this expansion of the US-Japan Foundation grant program will provide meaningful and impactful results and bring together a wide variety of organizations – familiar and unfamiliar – to the Foundation’s family of partners.
Please address any question or concerns to us at programs@us-jf.org.
