Category Archives: News

Sylff@Tokyo: Advocating for a More Holistic Approach to Maternal Care

May 1, 2025

The Sylff Association secretariat had the pleasure of reconnecting with Michelle Sadler (University of Chile, 2003) during her visit to the Tokyo Foundation on April 15. Currently a professor at Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez in Chile and director of the Chilean Observatory of Obstetric Violence, Sadler blends her academic work with her advocacy in civil society, focusing on maternal and reproductive health and rights.

A participant in Sylff’s Visit Japan Program in 2004, Sadler toured various birth centers across Japan—a transformative experience that “profoundly changed my understanding of childbirth models,” she recalls. “What I witnessed contrasted with my limited exposure to Chilean public maternities and sparked a lifelong passion for maternal health and rights. I remain deeply committed to this cause over twenty years later.”

Today, Sadler resides in Athens, Greece, tutoring PhD students and teaching master-level classes online, as well as conducting research. Having completed a Chilean-government-funded project on HIV last year, she is currently focused on examining issues related to breast cancer. Yet, as she emphasizes, “My chief interest has always been childbirth.”

Michelle Sadler, right, and her husband Panagiotis Gatsos during their visit to the Tokyo Foundation.

A Call for Compassionate Care

Childbirth is a profound experience that is fundamental to human survival and deserving of both reverence and compassion, yet it is often reduced to a clinical procedure. “In many cases, women in labor are forced to lie on their backs, connected to fetal monitors, and aren’t allowed to move freely,” Sadler explains. “Their discomfort and fears are frequently dismissed with comments like, ‘It won’t hurt that much’ or ‘Don’t be a complainer.’ This can be said to be a form of obstetric violence.”

Sadler notes that many women, dissatisfied with their birth experience due to disrespect and mistreatment, have sought alternatives by establishing birth centers that embrace midwifery and wellness models. These centers, she believes, are ideal for those who prefer a natural, low-intervention approach to childbirth, including natural pain management techniques. In contrast, hospitals are more suited to mothers requiring a wider range of medical interventions, such as C-sections or epidurals.

Sadler, center, flanked by daughters Eleni to her left and Sofia, stopped by the Foundation during a family trip to Japan.

“Mothers need to be supported in both their physical care and their bonding with their babies,” Sadler asserts. “Unfortunately, during the pandemic, some were isolated from their kids for days to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Xenophobia, especially in the wake of increased migration from countries like Colombia and Venezuela, has also contributed to mistreatment, particularly of migrant women. These women, who were sometimes unfairly suspected of belonging to drug cartels because of their tattoos, were treated as incapable of caring for their infants. This is a clear violation of human rights.”

Addressing Obstetric Violence in Chile

In addition to her academic and research work, Sadler founded the Chilean Observatory of Obstetric Violence, a small team of professionals—including experts in law, journalism, midwifery, and psychology—who, alongside graduate students, volunteer their time to address issues in maternal health and rights.

“We raise awareness through media columns, public forums, and advocating for legislation that promotes a more holistic approach to maternal care,” Sadler explains. “But our most important work is offering direct support to women who are struggling with the system and need professional assistance.”

The Observatory provides counseling, legal advice, and access to health professionals for women who face barriers to the care they seek, often in hospitals that do not accommodate their needs. “While our funding is limited, we have a strong network,” Sadler says. “Our goal is to ensure that every woman who reaches out to us finds a solution to the challenges she is facing.”

The Sylff Association secretariat is proud of Sadler’s critical work to promote maternal health and rights. Her unwavering dedication to improving maternal care is an inspiring example of the power of combining academic expertise with social engagement.

We are always eager to meet Sylff fellows and other Sylff Association members from around the world. If you are in town, please be sure to let us know, and we would be thrilled to welcome you to our office.

Sylff@Tokyo: UC San Diego Fellow Committed to Advancing Economic Betterment for All

April 17, 2025

The Sylff Association secretariat was delighted to welcome Justin Lesniak (University of California, San Diego, 2017–19) to the Tokyo Foundation’s office on April 9 during the final leg of his two-month trip to several Asian countries.

He had just completed a four-year tenure as a research analyst at the International Monetary Fund, where he supported the Fund’s engagement with Honduras and El Salvador and ensured the data integrity of country statistics for the World Economic Outlook database.

It was during his childhood in Los Angeles that Lesniak first developed an interest in international development. “We started learning about US history in fifth grade and were taught about how great the US was,” he recalls. “But I wondered why other countries, including smaller ones, can’t be great like the US? This question stuck with me, and I wanted to understand how the economy works and how politics could be made better to help people. It’s all connected.”

Spending six months in Chile as an exchange student during his undergraduate years deepened his interest in Latin America. “The country is like a poster child for free-market economics,” he explains. “After Pinochet seized power in a military coup in 1973, the country implemented free-market policies with the help of US economists from the University of Chicago.

“They privatized everything, and growth took off,” he added, “but this created inequality and other political problems. The dictatorship also persecuted its political opponents, leading to mass disappearances. But what’s fascinating is that in the end, Pinochet stepped down as president in 1990 after losing a democratic election. Usually, this never happens in a dictatorship.”

Lesniak worked as a consultant for the World Bank in the Office of the Chief Economist for Latin America and the Caribbean before earning a master of international affairs in 2019 at UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy. And although he had hoped to work for the US government following his time at the IMF, those prospects are now diminished due to recent cuts to federal personnel under the current US administration.

“I had an interview with USAID just two days before the decision to shut down operations there,” he says. “Now, I’m glad things didn’t work out because it would’ve been like ‘you’re hired’ one minute and ‘you’re fired’ the next. After the presidential election in November, I thought this might be a good time to travel, since the job market might not be that good in DC, and that turned out to be correct.

“So, I’m really happy to be here,” he said in looking back on his first visit to Asia that also took him to Taiwan, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. “I’ve been visiting friends, and it’s been really eye-opening because there are so many differences from one country to the next. But I’m still thinking about what comes next. I might go back to international development or maybe do more fieldwork and something on the ground.”

As he contemplates his career options, will he consider returning to academia? “Probably not. I’ve debated doing a PhD in economics, but I guess I’m more interested in ‘real work’ with tangible impact, rather than just working with theoretical models.”

At the moment, he is thinking of exploring how climate change may alter seasonal trading patterns and affect what can be produced where. “After all,” he smiles, “I’d like to keep drinking coffee!”

Event Held in Tokyo for Japanese Translation of Sofia Fellow’s Book

April 14, 2025

Historian Evgeniy Kandilarov (Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski,” 2003), who is currently a visiting professor at Sophia University in Tokyo, was a featured speaker at a March 19 event celebrating the Japanese translation of his book detailing over a century of Japan-Bulgarian exchange and friendship.

The book, originally published in Bulgarian in 2019 as Bulgaria and Japan: Politics, Diplomacy, Personalities, and Events, was co-authored by Kandilarov and career diplomat Vera Vutova-Stefanova. It details the very long and surprisingly rich history of bilateral ties, which officially began in 1909, just one year after Bulgaria’s independence from the Ottoman Empire. The relationship continued to evolve even during the Cold War.

The cover of the Japanese translation of Kandilarov’s book.

“EXPO ’70 in Osaka was a major factor in strengthening the postwar relationship, despite differences in the two countries’ political systems,” Kandilarov noted. “Prime Minister Todor Zhivkov became the first East Bloc leader to visit the Expo site and meet with Japanese Prime Minister Eisaku Sato. Bulgarians saw Japan as a technologically and economically advanced country, and many Expo visitors were highly impressed with the large-scale Bulgarian pavilion,” an exhibition that some argue contributed to the popularization of Bulgarian yogurt in Japan.

“By the mid-1970s, major Japanese trading houses and manufacturers like Mitsubishi Corp., Mitsui & Co., and Fujitsu had set up offices in Bulgaria,” he added. “The decade of deepening friendship culminated in an October 1979 visit to Bulgaria by then Crown Prince [now Emperor Emeritus] Akihito.”

Despite the geographical distance and apparent differences between the two countries, some writers in Japan have described Bulgarians as the “Japanese of the Balkans.” This affinity may stem from a feeling that both people are not only hardworking but also excellent soldiers and fearless fighters.

The book-launch event took place at the Diplomatic Archives Exhibition Room of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. It was organized by the Bulgarian Embassy in Tokyo with the support of the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Japan-Bulgaria Society.

Evgeniy Kandilarov makes a presentation as Bulgarian Ambassador Arabadjieva, right, and Diplomatic Archives Director Yamamoto look on.

Other noted speakers included Bulgarian Ambassador to Japan Marieta Arabadjieva, Diplomatic Archives Director Hideaki Yamamoto, Bulgarian history expert Junko Sugahara who translated the book into Japanese, and Director General Akiko Igaya of the Japan-Bulgaria Society.

In recognition of his academic achievements and his role in fostering deeper understanding between Japan and Bulgaria, Kandilarov was awarded a Japanese Foreign Minister’s Commendation during a ceremony at Sofia University in April 2023. He had previously received a Certificate of Honor from the Japanese Ambassador in September 2015 for his contributions to introducing Japan in Bulgaria as a researcher, lecturer, and author.

Sylff@Tokyo: First Visitors to Our New Office

April 14, 2025

The Sylff Association secretariat was pleased to welcome Chris Bush and Jan Tristan Gaspi from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, on March 26, 2025, as the very first visitors to our new office in Toranomon, Tokyo.

Bush is the executive director of the Institute for Business Innovation at Berkeley-Haas, and Gaspi is IBI’s associate director for finance and operations.

Berkeley-Haas implements a highly successful Sylff program, having disbursed some $200,000 in tuition support to six PhD students in AY2023–24, five of whom completed their dissertations. Sylff continues to be the most prestigious and generous fellowships available to graduate students at the Haas School of Business.

Jan Tristan Gaspi, right, and Chris Bush of UC Berkeley with members of the Sylff Association secretariat.

In addition to visiting the Tokyo Foundation, Bush and Gaspi met with many partners of UC Berkeley’s SkyDeck accelerator program while in Japan, including the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), major businesses, and universities.

Beyond SkyDeck, Berkeley-Haas also runs an Entrepreneurship Program that, for example, collaborates with Tohoku University to train top startups from the Sendai region in Lean Launch methodology. Haas has also hosted leading Japanese companies at the Berkeley Innovation Forum to explore building their innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Applications for SRG and SLI in Fiscal 2025 to Open in May

April 4, 2025

The Sylff Association secretariat will begin accepting applications for Sylff Research Grant (SRG) and Sylff Leadership Initiatives (SLI) for fiscal 2025 (April 2025 to March 2026) in May 2025. 

 As previously announced in February, several changes have been made to the two support programs this year. For those interested in applying, please carefully read through the Call for Application for each program and prepare your applications in time for the preliminary application period, which will begin on May 15, 2025.  

 The Calls for Application for the two programs are linked below.  

SRG: https://www.sylff.org/support_programs/srg/ 

SLI: https://www.sylff.org/support_programs/sli/ 

We look forward to launching our support programs for fiscal 2025 and to receiving applications for insightful research and innovative social initiatives. 

A New Start for the Tokyo Foundation

April 1, 2025

The Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research, which serves as the Sylff Association secretariat, is pleased to announce that Executive Director for Policy Research Mieko Nakabayashi has been named our new President. We have also relocated to a new office and have shortened our official name to the “Tokyo Foundation.”

Former President Izumi Kadono will remain at the Foundation in the capacity of an Advisor. The changes, as detailed below, came into effect on April 1, 2025.

The Tokyo Foundation was established in 1997 as an independent, not-for-profit think tank to examine critical issues confronting society; undertake rigorous, evidence-based policy research; and offer a range of policy options in pioneering paths to a brighter future. It also cultivates broadminded, socially engaged future leaders, both in Japan and overseas, in helping build a better society for all.

The new name is actually the one we used before 2018. We have decided to reembrace our roots in an attempt to clarify our mission, elucidate our vision, and reinforce our core values.

We hope that these changes will lead to fuller engagement with all our stakeholders in the Sylff community.

New name: The Tokyo Foundation (a public-interest incorporated foundation)
New address: The Sasakawa Peace Foundation Bldg. 5F, 1-15-16 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0001 Japan
New president: Mieko Nakabayashi
Phone: +81-3-5797-8402 (unchanged)
URL: https://www.tokyofoundation.org (unchanged)
Access (nearest stations)

Toranomon Station (Ginza Line): 1-min. walk from Exit 2b, 4, or 12
Toranomon Hills Station (Hibiya Line): 4-min. walk from Exit B1 or A2
Kasumigaseki Station (Chiyoda, Hibiya, and Marunouchi Lines): 5-min. walk from Exit A12
JR Shinbashi Station: 10-min. walk from Hibiya exit

 

Sylff Research Grant (SRG) Recipients for Fiscal 2024

February 17, 2025

The Sylff Association Secretariat is pleased to announce that 48 fellows have been selected as awardees of the Sylff Research Grant (SRG) for fiscal 2024 (April 2024–March 2025).

The awards were made to support a diverse range of activities during doctoral and early postdoctoral research, including data collection, hiring of research assistants, conducting of domestic and international fieldwork, and outsourcing of tasks requiring specialized knowledge or skills.

We received numerous outstanding applications for research in a wide range of disciplines. Particularly noteworthy were proposals addressing pressing social issues like human rights, access to education, and climate resilience.

For fellows interested in applying for SRG in fiscal 2025, the call for applications will be updated in April. Please note that there will be some changes to the activities eligible for support under the program, so we encourage you to stay informed.

To learn how SRG has supported impactful research in the past, we invite you to explore the Voices from the Sylff Community section that features articles about previous recipients and their projects.

Congratulations to all the awardees! We hope the research conducted through this grant will yield meaningful outcomes for both the fellows and society. The profiles of the 48 awardees and their research topics are available at: List of SRG Awardees FY2024.

You may find their Sylff profiles at: https://www.sylff.org/fellows/?p=SRG

Invitation to Join the Nippon Foundation Scholars Association (TNFSA)

February 13, 2025

The Sylff Association secretariat is delighted to invite all Sylff fellows to join an interactive platform called The Nippon Foundation Scholars Association (TNFSA) that is administered by the Nippon Foundation--the donor of the Sylff funds.

It is an online community enabling you to connect and network with recipients of various other Nippon Foundation fellowship programs and to support your activities on a long-term basis.

WHO CAN JOIN TNFSA?

All recipients of fellowships provided by the Nippon Foundation Group (including the Tokyo Foundation).

WHAT CAN YOU DO THROUGH TNFSA?

  1. Interact with other fellowship recipients
  • Search out and connect with fellows working in your field or region
  • Find a mentor or apply to be one
  • Create a discussion group and invite other Association members to join
  1. Find opportunities
  • Apply for jobs advertised on the platform (when available) and learn where other TNF scholars are working
  • Participate in events, such as webinars and conferences, that are announced on the platform.
  • Seek support for team projects
  • Promote your own events or achievements
  1. Learn
  • Read news released by Nippon Foundation Group organizations
  • Check posts of other Association members and join the conversation

TNFSA is a platform that all recipients of the approximately 20 Nippon Foundation Group fellowship programs can join. Since Sylff fellows represent the largest bloc of scholars in the Nippon Foundation Scholars Association, we expect that your participation will significantly invigorate this community.

You can use TNFSA to connect not only with other Sylff fellows but also with scholars outside the Sylff community. The fields covered include leadership development, peace studies, Japanese studies, and disability efforts. It is free and an excellent opportunity for you to build your career.

For those interested in joining, please follow these steps:

  1. Visit https://tnfsa.nippon-foundation.or.jp
  1. Click "Request to Join" in the upper right corner
  1. Fill out the form that appears, selecting "Sylff Association" from the menu as your Fellowship Group
  1. Click "Submit Request"
  1. A request will be sent to the administrator, who will confirm that you are a Sylff fellow and approve your application
  1. After confirmation, an email will be sent to the address that you provided. Click the "Activate your Account" button in the email.
  1. You will be taken to a login page. Please log in from this page.
  1. The Live Feed page will open. Please feel free to introduce yourself or just look around and see what is available.

Please contact sylff@tkfd.or.jp if you have trouble accessing the site. For questions regarding the platform’s features, please contact tnfsa@ps.nippon-foundation.or.jp.

We look forward to your participation!

Announcement: Updates to Sylff Support Programs in 2025

February 12, 2025

Thank you for your interest in our two Support Programs: Sylff Research Grant (SRG) and Sylff Leadership Initiatives (SLI). We are grateful for all the applications and inquiries we received in fiscal year 2024.

This is to notify you of several important changes that will take effect in fiscal 2025 (April 2025–March 2026):

  • Sylff Research Grant: Until now, SRG has been supporting a broad range of research activities, such as hiring assistants and outsourcing large-scale data collection. In 2025, eligible activities will be centered on fieldwork, with awards being expanded to a maximum of $10,000 for international fieldwork to cover travel expenses. Up to $5,000 will be available, as in the past, for domestic fieldwork.

  • Sylff Leadership Initiatives: Due to the need to align the program with our accounting (fiscal) year, applications should now be submitted according to a fixed schedule, rather than any time during the year. We are therefore suspending the acceptance of new applications until the start of fiscal 2025 in April. Prospective applicants should prepare their applications for submission around May 2025. The screening of concept papers and formal applications that have already been submitted will continue. Please wait to hear the screening results from the Sylff Association secretariat.

The Call for Applications for fiscal 2025 for both SRG and SLI will be posted on our website on April 1, 2025. Please be sure to check for updates so you don’t miss any important deadlines!

We appreciate your continued engagement with the Sylff community and look forward to supporting impactful research and leadership initiatives.

100th Anniversary of Rhapsody in Blue: Juilliard Dean, Fellow Interviewed by NYC Local Media

December 24, 2024

George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, composed in 1924, celebrated its 100th anniversary this year. As a masterpiece that fuses classical music with jazz, it has been featured in many films, concerts, and even at the Olympic Games.

The piece has also become an iconic symbol of New York City and was recently showcased on local news channel Pix11. Interviewed in the story were David Ludwig, SSC chair and dean and director of the Music Division at the Juilliard School, and 2024 Sylff fellow Anoush Pogossian, who spoke about the composition’s opening clarinet solo.

Pogossian performed the piece with the Juilliard Orchestra at a concert on November 18 at Alice Tully Hall in New York’s Lincoln Center. The Juilliard Orchestra is the university’s largest and most visible student performing ensemble comprising nearly 400 students in the bachelor’s and master’s degree programs.

The concert, performed before a thrilled audience as well as being streamed live, also featured Alan Hovhaness’s Symphony No. 2, “Mysterious Mountain”; Joan Tower’s Chamber Dance; and Samuel Barber’s Symphony No. 1.

Another 2024 Sylff fellow, flutist Phoebe Rawn, performed with Julliard’s AXIOM at a concert on November 25, also at Alice Tully Hall. AXIOM is dedicated to performing the masterworks of the twentieth- and twenty-first-century repertoire. She was featured in Charles Ives’s Central Park in the Dark and Augusta Read Thomas’s Solstice Ritual (Homage to Varèse and Ravel) for 14 Virtuosi.

Many of Juilliard’s performances throughout the year can be viewed free of charge, both online and in person, and the school invites those interested to check its Performance Calendar to enjoy the rich musical experiences Juilliard offers.